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Our  Canaries 
common  to  the  Norwich — in  short,  the  specimens  that  come  nearest  in  external 
appearance  to  the  old  Spangle-back  London  Fancies,  are  the  birds  that  one 
requires  for  use.  These  should  be  mated  with  pure  bred  London  Fancy  cocks  as 
free  from  ticking  as  possible,  and  sound  in  wings  and  tail.  The  progeny  of  the 
pair  which  come  nearest  to  the  London  Fancy  type  must  again  be  selected  and 
mated  back  to  pure  bred  London  Fancies  bied  from  pure  parents.  Both  cocks 
and  hens  of  this  cross  may  be  employed,  and  as  there  will  for  this  reason  probably 
be  a  greater  number  of  birds  to  select  from,  one  will  be  able  to  discard  as  useless 
for  the  work  in  hand  all  those  showing  distinct  patches  rather  than  spots  or  specks 
of  variegation  about  the  head,  neck,  breast  or  back. 
THE  SECOND  CROSS. 
In  mating  these  first  cross  London  Fancy — Lizard-Norwich  back  to  the 
London  Fancy,  one  should  be  careful  to  select  only  pure  bred  London  Fancies 
for  the  purpose,  and  as  clear  in  body  as  possible.  One  of  the  young  hens  might 
with  every  advantage  be  mated  back  to  the  London  Fancy  cock — its  own  male 
parent — as  this  will  go  far  to  give  the  London  Fancy  blood  predominance  in  the 
progeny,  and  as  there  will  be  no  question  of  prior  relationship  between  these  birds, 
this  close  breeding  may  on  such  a  special  occasion  be  entered  into  without  the 
least  fear  of  any  physical  degeneration.  Under  this  regime,  notwithstanding  the 
weeding  out  of  unsuitable  and  variegated  birds  in  the  first  few  seasons,  Spangle- 
backs  must  be  expected  to  re-appear  in  some  numbers,  and  these  must  be  kept 
under  control,  as  far  as  p  ssible,  by  mating  them  with  the  clearest  bodied  birds 
that  are  at  one's  disposal. 
FIXING  THE  POINTS. 
It  will  be  quite  possible  to  obtain  the  initial  working  material  by  the  opposite 
colour  mating — i.e.,  a  buff  Norwich,  of  the  description  given  above,  to  a  Gold 
Lizard  cock ;  but  by  the  other  method  we  shall  get  more  size,  which  is  needed  in 
the  London  Fancy,  and  probably  also  have  to  encounter  a  less  difficult  task  in 
subduing  variegation  and  spangling  in  the  first  two  or  three  seasons  afterwards. 
When  the  birds  have  been  bred  back  to  a  fairly  constant  type  if  the  wings  and  tail 
begin  to  fail  in  colour  an  occasional  mating  of  two  birds  with  spangles  or  specks 
of  colour  on  the  back  or  shoulders  should  be  resorted  to,  to  correct  the  failing,  or 
a  second  introduction  of  Lizard  blood  may  become  necessary,  which  is  a  much 
more  tedious  and  troublesome  method.  Still,  it  is  a  method  that  may  have  to  be 
resorted  to  more  than  once — or  at  least  by  a  number  of  persons — before  the  breed 
again  reaches  that  happy  position  when  it  would  be  practically  independent  of  any 
alien  blood. 
One  important  point  which  cannot  be  too  quickly  recognised  if  the  London 
Fancy  is  to  regain  its  fallen  laurels  is  that  the  imperfect  type — if  so  we  can  justly 
term  the  specimen  showing  small  ticks  or  spangles  on  the  back —  must  be  given  a 
