THE BIRD FANCIER

Evening Star, Issue 19664, 17 September 1927, Page 13

THE BIRD FANCIER

[By Goldfinch.] Ju tho mating of _ canaries the influence of the sexes is a point well worth your consideration. It must not bo supposed that there is any hard and last rule by which either sex could or would exercise any greater influence over any particular object to tho exclusion of others. There are markings, type, and character shown in the offspring which can be traced to cither the mother or fattier, showing you that the influence is either weak or strong, according to that possessed by cither -parent bird. Then again, a pair will at times produce birds that resemble the grandparents or even greatgrandparents, such are the laws ol Nature to which we must submit. In previous notes tho writer has pointed out tho necessity to study the stock well, so that when the breeding season is in full swing you will have a fair idea of what yon arc likely to breed.’ To increase the size of your birds the male bird should be the larger of the pair. Ho will exercise more influence in the color and size, while the hen will give type and quality of feather. Thus, in breeding to increase size, yon should aim as much as possible at. mating large male birds with liens of good typo and quality ol feather, oven if they are a bit small; but hens of a medium wzo arc preferable. Jfc is possible that a large hen mated to a small male bird will breed youngsters as largo as would be got ’hv the reverse mating; such oflspring will be more in the way of chance occurrences, but from a large male bird and a medium sized lion the number of young ones showing an improvement in size will _ tie more constant, and tho proportion will be much greater in tho majority of eases. To maintain the size in your stock, birds which arc below the average should not bo mated together. .In eases where they arc in aviaries and lei t to pair up indiscriminately, the size each season will gradually become smaller and smaller. Constant attention should always ho given to these different points in the mating up for breeding, otherwise the stock must surely deteriorate.

The feeding of a young brood in the neat has also a little to do in tbe production of large birds. Should the parents be regular pumping machines Lite youngsters will grow much bigger and quicker. AVitb a young brooch from a line of well bred parents, those parents not being good feeders, the young will be so kept back in their growth and development that they will grow into puny, undersized .specimens. Such birds, by baring inherited properties bred into them by careful line breeding, arc capable of producing large size birds; they could be classed ns average size, but you must bo vcr.v careful and pair them with birds that you know by line breeding t.o produce large birds. If a hen it will l»c capable of transmitting size to its progeny, provided the necessary and proper quantity ol food is given, whore it was held from her through her parents being bad feeders. Whore it is essential to improve size, such as in I lie Norwich variety, no risks should be taken in mating a bird whose pedigree is doubtful.