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Our  Canaries 
care  must  be  taken  in  mating  for  double-buffing.  The  cock  should  be  full  of 
colour  and  quality,  medium  size,  and  good  type,  and  the  hen  ideal  in  every 
respect.  The  only  disadvantage  there  is  in  double-buffing  is  that  the  young  are 
liable  to  be  paler  in  colour,  but  they  are  extremely  valuable  for  maintaining  and 
fixing  type  and  keeping  up  the  size.  Quality  is  an  absolute  necessity.  We  have 
found  that  we  always  breed  the  best  quality  birds  from  yellow  hens,  and  firmly 
advocate  yellow  hens  for  breeding  quality,  and  buff  hens  for  breeding  type.  It  is 
a  far  easier  matter  to  get  birds  to  the  requisite  size  if  you  should  happen  to  lose  a 
little  in  endeavouring  to  fix  type  and  quality  in  your  stock  than  to  get  rid  of  loose 
feather  and  bad  type.  The  best  and  quickest  way  to  improve  quality  is  by 
breeding  from  two  yellows.  We  are  confident  that  this  is  the  correct  way  to 
improve  both  quality  and  colour.  If  paired  with  the  object  of  improving  quality 
care  should  be  taken  to  put  together  the  shortest  and  thickest  birds  possible,  as 
birds  bred  from  two  yellows  have  a  tendency  to  run  slim  and  long.  The  young 
bred  this  way  should  be  paired  with  short  thick  birds  (double-buffed  preferred)  to 
regain  whatever  has  been  lost  in  type  by  double-yellowing,  taking  care  however 
to  select  only  those  of  good  quality.  If  paired  with  the  object  of  improving 
colour  the  best  coloured  specimens  should  be  used,  and  preferably  those  having 
dark  blood  in  them,  or  marked  birds  themselves.  This  we  consider  much  better 
than  resorting  either  to  the  green  or  the  Cinnamon  blood.  If  you  resort  to  the 
full  green  blood  it  will  take  some  time  before  the  birds  throw  anything  like  clear 
again." 
COLOUR  QUESTIONS. 
One  result  of  too  frequent  double-buff  mating  is  a  very  decided  diminution 
in  the  yellow  stock.  At  one  time  it  was  held  to  be  impossible  to  breed  a 
yellow  bird  from  two  buffs,  though  buffs  might  be  obtained  with  the  greatest 
freedom  from  the  yellows.  But,  like  all  others,  this  rule  has  its  exceptions,  and 
although  it  is  of  quite  rare  occurence  it  is  nevertheless  a  fact  that  a  yellow  is 
occasionally  bred  from  two  buffs,  or  a  gold  from  two  silvers  as  in  the  Lizards. 
Mr.  Bowyer  assures  us  that  years  ago  he  once  bred  two  gold  hens  in  one  season 
from  a  pair  of  silver  Lizards.  But  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases  yellows  are  non  est 
among  the  progeny  of  two  buffs  mated  together.  Size  is  undoubtedly  increased,  and 
the  colour  and  mealiness  of  the  plumage  are  often  extremely  good,  but  the  lack  of 
yellow  birds,  and  the  not  always  desirable  increase  of  feather,  should  make  fanciers 
pause  ere  carrying  the  practice  beyond  reasonable  limits.  It  is  a  sound  principle 
to  endeavour  to  keep  a  fair  proportion  of  deep  rich  yellow  birds  among  the  stock 
without  having  to  resort  too  frequently  to  the  pure  green  blood  to  revive  the 
vanishing  stock  of  yellows.  To  accomplish  such  an  object  the  breeder  will 
quickly  discover  that  he  cannot  afford  to  double-buff  the  bulk  of  his  breeding 
stock  more  than  one  year  before  reverting  to  the  yellow-and-buff  matings  to 
prevent  his  stock  of  yellows  falling  to  a  very  low  ebb.    Typical  yellows  are 
