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Our  Canaries 
object  of  improving  size  and  constitution.  If  mated  too  often  in  this  way  rough- 
ness of  feathers  is  the  result.  When  variegated  birds  are  desired  some  well- 
marked  birds  should  be  selected  and  paired  with  clears,  and  from  the  produce  you 
can  again  pair  with  clear  birds,  bearing  in  mind  the  usual  principles  of  correcting 
the  faults  of  one  by  excellencies  in  the  other  in  order  to  improve  the  contour  and 
general  excellence  of  your  birds.  Care  should  be  taken  not  to  match  up  two 
marked  birds,  as  the  produce  may  turn  out  too  heavily  marked,  and  the  result  of 
the  re-crossing  of  marked  birds  would  be  greens  almost  entirely.  The  progeny  of 
male  birds  two  years  old  are  generally  stronger  and  more  healthy  in  every  way. 
Male  birds  in  many  cases  fail  to  impregnate  the  eggs  in  their  first  season.  I 
have  very  often  met  with  this  result. 
But  bear  in  mind,  a  corresponding 
failure  does  not  appear  in  hens  during 
their  first  year. 
"  Having  selected  the  most  pro- 
mising show  birds  at  the  end  of  the 
moult,  they  should  be  trained  to  the 
show  cage.  Indeed,  it  is  well  to  begin 
their  education  as  soon  as  they  are 
seven  or  eight  weeks  old,  or  earlier. 
They  should  be  put  in  the  usual  Scotch 
Fancy  show  cage,  and  taught  to  travel 
freely  and  gracefully  from  perch  to 
perch.  The  greatest  care  and  caution  are  required  at  this  time  as  they  are  most 
timid  and  wild.  By  using  a  thin  stick  about  a  foot  long,  try  to  get  them  to 
action  ;  train  them  to  leap  rapidly  from  perch  to  perch.  You  will  then  best 
observe  their  action  and  true  form,  and  will,  after  a  short  time,  be  able  to  get 
them  into  position  for  the  display  of  their  true  form  by  simply  moving  the  cage  in 
the  hand,  and  with  the  aid  of  your  hand  or  finger." 
TERMS  DEFINED. 
Being  an  ancient  breed  and  of  somewhat  localised  distribution — its  general 
popularity  being  mainly  limited  to  Scotland,  where  it  has  ever  been  regarded  as 
the  National  type  of  the  Canary  race — it  is  naturally  the  subject  of  many  technical 
terms  which  may  sound  strange  to  English  ears.  The  colour  terms  we  have 
already  referred  to :  clean  being  synonymous  with  clear  ;  foul  with  ticked  and  very 
lightly  variegated  ;  pied  or  piebald  with  variegation  of  all  degrees  right  on  to 
broken  greens,  the  latter  being  also  referred  to  as  foul  greens,  and  occasionally  as 
pied  greens.  Action,  gait  and  travelling,  are  terms  used  to  describe  the  bird's 
characteristic  movements  as  it  hops  jauntily  to  and  fro  about  the  perches,  which, 
by  the  way,  our  Scotch  friends  more  generally  term  spars.  Style  and  position 
mean  the  distinctive  attitude  adopted  by  the  bird  when  posing  to  show  off  its 
