Gleanings on the 
Yorkshire. 
(7o) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
Gleanings on the Yorkshire, 
The Gentleman of the Canary Family, 
By T. C. CRAWHALL. 
{Continued fro 7 n page 52.) 
Personal Experience on Pairing. 
There is another point emphasised by 
most writers on the subject of pairing 
which my personal experience has not 
proved to be quite in keeping with 
theirs, that is, the pairing of a large 
cock to a small hen; provided the hen 
be very typical, the cock may be almost 
anything if he has size and colour. They 
say size and colour come from the male 
parent, and type and quality from the 
female. This has a certain amount of 
truth in it, and is possibly safe 
advice for the givers of it to 
follow in their own rooms with 
their own stock, because they will 
know how their birds are bred, and what 
they are likely to produce. I am, how¬ 
ever, convinced it is not a safe policy 
for a beginner to adopt unless he knows 
the dealer from whom he obtains his 
stock. I will give you an instance of 
my own. Last year I paired a yellow 
cock up with two buff hens of very 
different type. From one I had three 
young, all hens; from the other also 
three, but these were cocks. These six 
birds were all yellows, and all except 
one followed the father as regards shape. 
One certainly was unlike him, but it was 
also unlike its mother; it went back to 
the grandparents, being a better bird 
than either of its parents. Thus you see 
you cannot always rely upon the young 
following the hen as regards shape; in 
fact, I may say that, as far as I could 
trace the shape in my birds to either 
parent there was a larger percentage in 
favour of the sire. 
Varying Ideas on Feeding. 
On the question of feeding I am also 
at slight variance with some writers. 
When I got my first Canary an old 
fancier gave me a recipe for a seed 
mixture, which I have given two or ihree 
times a week ever since, and I have had 
very few sick birds. It was equal parts 
German summer rape, inga, and hemp, 
and half parts linseed and maw seed. 
This I give a pinch of frequently, and 
during cold winter weather an extra 
pinch of hemp. The birds seem to 
appreciate the mixture very much, and 
it must relieve the monotony of always 
eating white canary seed. Of course, 
my hoppers are always filled with the 
best canary seed; the other I give as a 
kind of refresher and tonic—a change of 
diet. I tried teazle seed, and many of 
the birds liked it well, but I thought it 
made them too fit during the breeding 
season, as I had one or two hens letc 
their nest about the twelfth day, so 
dropped it. I have had one hen do the 
same this year, so perhaps the teazle was 
not to blame; there is no doubt but that 
the birds liked it very much. I have 
also used groats, but some birds will not 
touch them, while others go for them 
first. I think they tighten the feather 
and give it a bloom, and, consequently, 
are very useful during moulting and show 
season. The much-glorified Gold of 
Pleasure I have not tried as yet, but 
perhaps I shall give it a trial during the 
next moult. My method during this 
pairing-up season has been to give egg 
food one day, the mixture I mentioned 
the following, and the third day boiled 
rape mixed with a little powdered 
biscuit, and so far I have only had one 
nest in which there were more than one 
unfertile egg, and that was a Crest hen, 
in whose nest only one out of four was 
fertile. About twice a week I give a 
spray of watercress. 
Variation Necessary. 
Some may think that I treat my birds 
too generously, but I think you will 
agree with me that it is necessary to 
