Page 31 - SOMOS FOA #7
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time, both gentlemen have a joint culture First Breeding
of frilled canaries. They own several varie-
ties: the Parisian Frill, the Padovan, the North The pair at that time already owns a few hun-
Dutch Frill, the South Dutch Frill, and finally dred canaries. However, the passion for bre-
the Gibber Italicus. During a tour along their eding, which is in the blood of both of them,
many cages and aviaries for a last inspection is stronger than reason, and from then on, in
before supper, an idea comes up. They won- a new set of cages, they commence the selec-
der whether, in view of certain experimental tion of this potential new variety.
pairings between “superfluous” specimens to
obtain “foster parents” for their cumbersome The ancestors of the species were – according
pure birds, there would be room to create a to an article by the hand of Zingoni – seve-
new variety. ral North Dutch Frills (amongst which a really
small yellow one from the breeder Saviono
From hybridizing a Northern Frill and a cres- Pierro from Bari) and a crested Gloster Fan-
ted Gloster Fancy, a few chicks were born with cy, both chosen for their small size, and an
the frills of the father and the small volume “ugly” Gibber, whose only merit according to
and the tuft of the mother. From this circum- the account was its minimal length. Also, it
stance, the thought originated to create a fri- was attempted to employ a wild canary (se-
lled canary that was as small as possible, with rinus serinus) to further reduce length. These
a beautiful crest on top of its head. attempts however did not lead to the desired
result, and were terminated.
It is well known that the crest factor is ge-
netically dominant over the native form, i.e. After a few years, force majeure necessitates
the plainhead; this breeding outcome clear- the pair to leave their breeding building, and
ly demonstrates that this property applies as to reduce and break up their joint culture. Mi-
well to the occurrence of frills elsewhere on a chele del Prete continues breeding Parisian
bird’s body. Frills and Padovans on the veranda terrace of
his house. Umberto Zingoni continues in the
Of course, the offspring are heterozygous, so garage below his house with the new variety,
that approximately a quarter of the inbred which by then already has a name: the Fiori-
second generation will not exhibit frills. Befo- no.
re that instance, the trend in breeding frilled
canaries, except for the Gibber, had been to Selection and Consanguinity
increase the volume to obtain more striking
specimens, so that a “mini frill” with a regular The above historical description has been re-
stance did not exist. This in contradistinction constructed from scattered remarks in various
to the situation with the smoothly feathered publications by prof. Umberto Zingoni about
varieties. the origin and the attributes of the Fiorino.
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