Our  Canaries 
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suitable  birds  cinnamon  Borders  of  both  sexes  could  be  bred  in  a  few  years'  time. 
I  got  a  heavily  variegated  green-marked  cock  that  had  cinnamon-marked  sisters.  I 
next  procured  two  cinnamon  hens — one  self,  and  one  foul-tailed.  That  trio,  and 
the  champion  self-cinnamon  cock  I  had  in  my  mind's  eye,  seemed  very  far  apart. 
"  When  the  breeding  season  came  round  I  paired  the  cock  to  the  self-hen. 
She  laid  three  eggs,  which  I  set,  and  then  ran  the  cock  with  the  foul  hen. 
Only  two  of  those  eggs  hatched  and  produced  foul  green  hens.  The  foul  hen 
laid  three,  which  were  duly  hatched  and  reared,  and  produced  two  variegated 
cinnamon  hens  and  a  self-green  hen.  I  got  only  this  one  nest  off  the  foul 
hen.  The  self  hen  went  to  nest  again,  and  again  laid  three  eggs.  These  were 
duly  hatched,  and  judge  of  my  surprise  when  I  saw  they  were  all  pink-eyed. 
I  had  a  foul  cinnamon  cock  among  them,  the  other  two  being  foul  cinnamon 
hens.  Before  the  next  breeding  season  I  had  procured  a  mate  for  him  in  the 
shape  of  a  foul-tailed  cinnamon  hen.  This  pair  threw  all  cinnamon  young  of 
both  sexes,  but  all  were  more  or  less  foul.  The  young  cocks  in  turn  mated 
to  self-cinnamon  hens  produced  all  cinnamon  young  of  both  sexes,  fewer  of 
them  being  foul.  I  always  put  in  fresh  blood  on  the  female  side  and  got  the 
hens  from  breeders  of  greens,  which  were  sports  from  the  green.  About  that 
time  other  breeders  had  taken  up  the  breeding  of  cinnamon  Borders  of  both  sexes, 
so  that  hens  bred  from  double-cinnamons  could  be  got  when  fresh  blood  was 
required,  but  to  purchase  a  cinnamon  Border  cock  was  well-nigh  impossible.  The 
height  of  my  ambition  was  reached  in  1908 — three  years  from  the  commencement. 
In  that  year  I  bred  the  self-yellow  cinnamon  cock,  which  turned  out  to  be  the 
best  cinnamon  Border  of  the  season.  He  had  marvellous  colour,  and  some 
fanciers  remarked  that  his  colour  was  too  good  to  be  genuine — meaning  I  had  been 
using  colour  feed,  which  I  had  not.  I  sold  him  to  a  South  Wales  exhibitor  who 
showed  him  with  varying  success,  and  finished  up  the  show  season  by  winning 
first  in  a  strong  class  at  the  Crystal  Palace." 
POINTS  FOR  CINNAMON  BREEDERS. 
"  In  breeding  cinnamons,"  goes  on  Mr.  Hamilton,  "  the  main  point,  next  to 
type  and  quality,  is  colour.  Do  not  pair  two  birds  failing  in  type  simply  because 
they  have  good  colour.  Never  double-yellow  unless  you  have  suitable  birds,  as 
by  double-yellowing  you  thin  the  web  of  the  feathers.  Do  not  double-yellow 
with  leggy  birds  :  let  them  be  short  in  leg  and  stoutish  in  body.  Some  of  you 
have  no  doubt  seen  yellow  birds  in  which  the  feather  resembles  that  of  a  buff 
bird,  and  it  is  advisable  for  at  least  one  of  a  pair  of  double-yellows  to  be  of  that 
description.  In  double-buffing  it  is  advisable  to  have  good  colour  and  tight 
feathers  in  both  birds,  and  one  of  them  at  least  to  be  feathered  as  a  yellow,  but 
yet  a  buff.  However,  unless  one  understands  his  stock  it  is  advisable  to  pair 
yellow  to  buff.  I  have  a  liking  for  yellow  cock  to  buff  hen.  This  way  of  mating 
appeals  to  me  most. 
