Our  Canaries 
tailed  Norwich,  with  plenty  of  leg  and  thigh,  such  as  a  Norwich  breeder 
would  not  think  of  breeding  with.  I  try  to  get  all  my  hens  ready  for 
breeding  together,  so  that  if  any  go  wrong  I  can  change  either  the  eggs  or 
the  young.  I  find  the  young  birds  grow  quicker  when  the  moon  is  filling 
than  they  do  when  it  is  going  back— at  least,  I  think  so.  I  have  tried 
double-yellowing  and  bred  some  good  buffs  in  that  way;  feathered  like  marble. 
The  yellow  cocks  so  bred  will  nearly  always  produce  yellov/s,  but  if  it  is 
done  too  much  they  will  come  without  the  body  feathers— only  having  flights 
and  tails.  I  have  bred  some  good  double  buffs,  especially  Belgians,  to  get 
larger  birds.  I  generally  pair  clear  cocks  with  marked  hens — paired  in  the 
reverse  way  I  get  them  too  heavily  marked  in  the  Yorkshires. 
"  I  train  the  young  birds  to  run  into  show  cages  and  get  them  to  stand 
upright.  They  will  show  themselves  off  at  six  or  seven  weeks  old.  Some  of 
them  will  try  to  stand  plumb.  Having  a  dash  of  Belgian  blood  in  them 
they  will  not  stand  across  the  perch,  but  are  up  at  half-past  twelve  when  you 
scratch  the  cage.  My  breeding  results  have  been  from  50  to  60  birds  a  year 
for  the  last  four  years." 
TIME  AND  LUNA'S  INFLUENCE. 
Two  brief  references  on  these  topics  in  the  notes  just  concluded  will  bear 
some  explanation  for  the  enlightenment  of  the  novice  and  the  fancier  whose 
knowledge  has  been  wholly  gleaned  in  the  school  of  modern  thought  and  ideas. 
The  reference  to  young  birds  in  training  being  "  up  at  half-past  twelve " 
may  appear  curious  to  the  novice  just  starting  in  the  fancy,  but  to  an  old  and 
seasoned  breeder  it  conveys  a  very  definite  meaning  and  refers  to  the  position 
shown  by  the  hands  of  a  clock  at  the  time  named.  This  method  forms  an 
excellent  and  popular  standard  of  comparison  for  the  proper  typical  pose  of 
birds  of  position.  To  take  the  Yorkshire  as  an  example,  an  imaginary  straight 
line  drawn  through  the  centre  of  the  bird  from  eye  to  tip  of  tail  when  in 
position,  should  coincide  as  nearly  as  possible  with  the  position  shown  by 
the  hands  of  a  clock  at  five  minutes  before  five.  Thus  the  young  birds  in 
question  showed  unmistakable  signs  of  their  near  relationship  to  the  Belgian, 
by  overdomg  the  typical  pose,  and  endeavouring  to  stand  bolt  upright  after 
the  manner  of  their  posturing  progenitor,  the  Belgian,  which  should  exhibit 
a  plumb  line  along  the  back  from  top  of  shoulders  to  tip  of  tail  when  in 
position— or,  as  a  breeder  might  put  it  loquaciously,  "  be  up  at  half-past  twelve." 
The  remarks  concerning  the  influence  of  the  moon  upon  the  growth  of 
young  birds  will  at  least  seem  novel,  though  in  many  cases  they  will  doubtless 
be  ridiculed.  Let  them  laugh  who  will.  Though  we  are  no  slaves  to  superstitious 
follies  or  star-gazing  montebanks,  we  can  be  patient  with  a  theory  so  hoary 
and  time-honoured — and  particularly  so  when  it  is  probably  beyond  the  power 
