A Competition 
Essay. 
(13) THE BIRD WORLD. 
Breeding.* 
A Competition Essay. 
By R. P. 
The above title, to say the least, is 
somewhat vague, but as the Essay has to 
be written under the auspices of the City 
and Suburban Association of Canary 
Breeders, I take it the breeding of 
Canaries is the subject selected. Here, 
again, the title can be sub-divided under 
various headings, the three principal 
being: 
Breeding for Profit, 
Breeding for Pastime, and 
Breeding for Exhibition Purposes . 
The last, of course, to a great extent, 
embraces the second, as exhibition fan¬ 
ciers primarily breed their birds for an 
interesting and elevating pursuit. I pur¬ 
pose to deal with breeding for exhibi¬ 
tion, as I believe the chief object of this 
Association is to encourage the fancier 
not only to breed, but to exhibit his 
birds. We are not only told, but we see 
as well, that this is an age of specialism, 
and as a rule the fancier who specialises 
on one variety stands the greatest chance 
of success; he becomes more quickly 
accustomed to the one variety; he has 
only one standard to adhere to; he 
has only one set of appliances to pur¬ 
chase suitable to the one variety he takes 
up; he also, as it were, comes in touch 
more frequently and often with the one 
set of breeders of his own variety. 
The Ethical Side. 
Every writer or essayist must, to a 
great extent, deal with the ethical side 
of the question. No man can dictate to 
another his mode of procedure. Twelve 
different fanciers may have twelve dif¬ 
ferent methods in the way of diet, 
management, etc., and each meet with 
the same success. It is generally acknow- 
* One of a number of essays in a competition 
promoted by the City and Suburban Association 
of Canary Breeders. 
BROOME. 
ledged that the fancier, however perse¬ 
vering, however painstaking he may be, 
must have, at the outset, some idea of 
what he is striving after, and to do this 
he must see in flesh and blood some bird 
nearly appertaining to the ideal, and this 
means visiting one or two good shows. 
It is no use a fancier staying at home 
week after week, breeding year after 
year, without getting about and seeing 
on the bench the required type of bird. 
1 emphasise this most strongly, because 
every man must have a pattern to work 
by. We only have to look to ourselves. 
If we are asked to make anything in our 
trade, or estimate, or, in fact, do any¬ 
thing to earn our daily bread, we must 
have data to work upon. Never mind 
the ideal bird that is drawn in various 
papers. Go and see the birds that win 
in good company, and strive to bring 
your stock up to the point that they 
may, with some degree of certainty, pro¬ 
duce such specimens as are shown on 
the bench. 
The Nature of the Task. 
After all, it is not the task some would 
have us to believe. We see, and even 
in this Association, working-men fan¬ 
ciers of five, and even less years’ stand¬ 
ing, who hold the proud position of 
being able to face all comers in the Cage 
Bird Fancy. To come back to the birds 
themselves, and, of course, the most 
practical part of the work, the oreeding 
of exhibition Canaries, or, for the matter 
of that, any Canary, must be carried out 
on a system. The fancier must get in 
that way the experience which strict 
attention to his birds gives as a matter 
of course. That is to say, he feeds and 
waters the birds, and generally looks 
after them without, as it were, noticing 
the fact. He must not give them all 
attention one week and none the next. 
The most apt way I can illustrate my 
