ABSTRACT
A group of cage bird breeders might quite well decide that it was as interesting to breed for knowledge as for silver cups. And we know almost nothing about the various kinds of hybrids between canaries and related birds, such as linnets, goldfinches, and green-finches. The budgerigar is one of the most interesting domestic animals. It lives wild in north Australia, and the first live ones were brought to Europe in 1840. The canary fanciers, on the other hand, have a number of different races, such as the Norwich, Yorkshire, Border, and so on, which they try to keep 'pure', though each race has several different colours. His aims are quite different to the practical farmer's. But the fancier can advance science, and in this way he can help agriculture indirectly. Plenty of amateurs have made real contributions to science, particularly to archaeology, geology, and meteorology.
