Our  Canaries  365 
ing,  the  fancier  who  wishes  to  get  in  the  front  rank  must  not  rely  upon  one 
parent's  qualifications  alone,  but  endeavour  to  mate  the  best  with  the  best,  and 
exercise  the  most  scrupulous  care  in  the  introduction  of  fresh  blood  on  the  female 
side. 
When  introducing  fresh  blood  on  either  side  it  is  essential  that  the  type  of 
song  of  the  bird  introduced  be  not  materially  different  from  that  of  one's  own 
birds.  Slight  variations  are  immaterial,  and  will  have  little  or  no  effect,  but  any 
really  fundamental  difference  in  the  song  of  the  introduced  birds  will  be  reflected 
in  a  defective  performance  of  the  progeny.  Herein  lies  the  importance  of  exer- 
cising extreme  care  in  introducing  fresh  hens.  The  song  of  the  cocks,  which  is  the 
criterion  of  their  suitability  to  introduce  into  one's  stock,  may  be  quickly  heard 
and  gauged  any  time,  but  the  effect  of  fresh  hens  cannot  be  estimated  until  pro- 
geny has  been  reared  from  them,  when  the  mischief,  if  such  it  be,  is  already  done ; 
therefore  one  should  only  introduce  fresh  hens  when  one  is  thoroughly  familiar 
with  the  performances  of  the  strain  whence  they  come  or  can  rely  implicitly  upon 
the  description  of  the  breeder. 
DIETARY  OF  ROLLERS. 
The  feeding  of  pure  Rollers  differs  somewhat  from  that  adopted  for  other 
varieties.  German  breeders,  to  whom  we  owe  the  extraordinary  powers  of  song 
which  have  been  developed  in  the  Roller,  are  practically  of  one  opinion  on  the 
point — that  the  only  proper  dietary  for  the  singing  Canary  is  a  staple  of  good 
sound  summer  rape  seed  only,  with  a  little  egg-food,  or  egg-bread,  two  or  three 
times  a  week,  and  occasionally,  chiefly  for  backward  songsters,  a  small  quantity 
of  a  mixture  of  canary,  hemp,  and  broken  groats.  In  the  creed  of  the  German 
breeder  the  supply  of  mixed  seed,  or  a  regular  supply  of  canary  in  the  staple  diet, 
is  anathema,  as  being  fatal  to  the  vocal  abilities  of  the  birds,  and  giving  rise  to 
loud  and  harsh  notes  and  a  wild  and  excited  manner  of  delivery.  Frequent 
changes  and  a  constant  variety  of  tit-bits  are  also  deprecated,  and  a  consistently 
plain  and  wholesome  regimen  is  adhered  to.  Albeit  our  own  system  of  feeding 
ordinary  singing  Rollers  has  differed  from  the  German  method  only  in  the  supply 
of  a  mixture  of  two  parts  canary  to  one  part  summer  rape  as  a  staple — a  system 
which  has  ever  served  us  well,  though  we  would  not  advise  it  indiscriminately  for 
specially  trained  contest  singers. 
CROSS-BRED  SONGSTERS. 
Whenever  the  highest  class  of  song  is  required,  the  pure-bred  Roller  is 
unapproachable  by  any  other  pure  or  crossed  variety  for  supplying  it.  But  its  ple- 
bian  appearance  and  garb  are  not  always  so  well  appreciated  as  its  song,  and  one 
sometimes  desires  to  improve  the  appearance  of  the  bird  and  yet  retain  a  good 
singing  bird.  By  sacrificing  a  certain  amount  of  the  vocal  abilities  this  may  be 
easily  accomplished.  A  cross  with  the  Border  Fancy  will  give  the  nearest 
approach  to  the  pure  Roller  song,  and  a  rather  improved  appearance,  but  the  size 
H  H 
