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Our  Canaries 
tail  marks  must  be  used  with  discretion  in  the  breeding  cage.  It  has  been  said 
that  this  bird  is  not  a  suitable  stock  bird  at  all  for  breeding  even-marks — an 
assertion  which,  without  some  strong  qualification,  falls  wide  of  the  mark.  It 
should,  however,  be  mated  to  a  clear,  bred  from  even-marks,  or  if  its  eye-marks 
be  of  a  very  light  description  it  should  be  mated  to  an  eye-marked  specimen,  with 
good  shaped  but  rather  small  eye-marks,  and  as  free  from  dark  flue  about  the 
thighs  as  possible.    This  bird  must,  of  course,  come  from  an  even-marked  strain. 
MAKING    A  STRAIN. 
Our  thanks  are  due  to  Mr,  J.  H.  Payne,  of  Gloucester,  for  the  following  notes 
on  even-marks : — "  To  the  breeder  who  wishes  to  revive  the  glories  of  an  almost 
forgotten  variety,"  he  writes,  "  I  say  unhesitatingly,  take  up  the  breeding  of 
evenly-marked  Norwich.  I  remember  the  days  when  we  had  strong  classes  of 
even-marks,  and  have  frequently  seen  '  cages  of  four,'  and  the  birds  in  many 
instances  equal  to  the  clears  and  variegateds  in  shape,  size  and  quality  of  feather. 
I  would  advise  the  prospective  breeder  of  even-marks,  when  starting,  to  purchase 
his  stock  from  a  breeder  who  has  a  large  and  well-established  stud.  Here  he  will 
find  the  material  he  requires  to  build  up  a  strain  of  even-marks.  He  should  select 
any  birds  of  good  shape,  size  and  feather  that  have  technical  marks  of  any  sort, 
but  are  quite  free  from  any  marks  on  the  body.  He  should  have,  say,  six  or 
eight  birds,  the  markings  of  which  in  each  pair,  collectively,  should  represent  an 
even-marked  bird.  In  this  way  his  foundation  is  laid  upon  what  he  desires  to  fix 
and  perfect  in  his  finished  structure,  viz.,  '  technical  markings.'  By  selecting 
birds  with  substance,  shape  and  quality,  if  they  do  not  produce  birds  at  first  that 
are  useful  for  even-marked  breeding,  they  will  still  be  of  value  in  many  other  ways. 
He  need  not  be  particular  in  the  initial  stages  about  pairing  in  the  orthodox  way, 
and  should  not  scruple  to  pair  buff  to  buff,  or  yellow  to  yellow,  providing  he  has 
in  the  pair  of  birds  the  full  complement,  of  technical  markings,  as  these  are  the 
points  he  must  strive  to  fix. 
"  Coming,  as  these  birds  probably  would,  from  variegated  stock,  young  would 
be  produced  that,  in  addition  to  technical  marks,  would  have  some  body  markings. 
These  should  be  eschewed.  They  would  lead  back  again  to  the  original  stream  of 
variegation.  I  do  not  say  that  one  should  not  breed  from  a  bird  that  has  a  body 
mark  in  addition  to  its  technical  marks,  but  I  do  say  that  such  technical  markings 
would  have  to  be  super-excellent  to  induce  me  to  use  it.  Good  eye  marks  are 
much  more  difficult  to  produce  than  wing  marks.  When  I  say  good  eye  marks  I 
mean  eye  marks  that  are  both  anterior  and  posterior — the  former  being  nicely 
rounded  and  the  latter  gradually  tapering  away.  Good  eye  marks  should  be 
greatly  prized,  and  nothing  should  tempt  the  breeder  who  desires  to  produce  a 
perfect  even-mark  to  part  with  birds  that  have  well-formed  and  evenly-balanced 
eye  markings.  In  the  course  of  the  breeding  season  a  bird  or  two  will  doubtless 
be  produced  that  will  be  green,  or  nearly  so  ;  also  some  clears,    These  will  be 
