By George Preskey
What one should look for in assessing the value
of Rollers is the quality of major tours. However, this should not blind us to
the fact that sometimes individuals which have not attained a great deal of
quality in their song, may amass reasonable scores simply because they sing
everything without being really good at any one aspect.
Such singers are perfectly acceptable, but are not likely to contribute as much
to a stud, as examples which possess outstanding Tours, even if they may be a
little short in song. Those whose ancestors have consistently been picked
because of their outstanding tonal qualities, even if they may miss a tour here
and there, are quite capable of producing offspring which have everything to
offer in terms of variety and quality.
It is well established fact that there is a conflict between the Hollow Tours
and the Gluke and Water Tours, and good birds tend to fall into one category or
the other. An occasional example will excel in both Hollow and Gluke and this
will generally be the offspring of Hollow strains which will often throw a Gluke
sport.
Singers which are bred for Gluke and Water Tours seldom have really excellent
Hollow Tours and they are apt to deteriorate even on their Glukes without the
infusion off first class Hollow blood.
In assessing one's breeding stock, it follows that it is not sufficient merely
to look at the total points scored, but one should carefully examine how the
score is made up.
Nobody is going to succeed in building up a strain in which every singer excels
in every tour, but it is quite feasible to develop a strain in which every bird
displays good tone and depth, which should be the aim of serious fanciers.
Inevitably, a portion of the youngsters bred will be short in song, with some
tours missing, but this is of much less importance than the maintenance of tone
and depth throughout the strain.
If the adults have in their genetic make-up the inherited capability of passing
on the missing tours, they will eventually reappear in some of their
descendants. When they do they will be worth listening to.
It is a great temptation to use a mediocre singer with a full song as a stock
bird in the vain hope of obtaining the best of both worlds. However, the much
more likely outcome is that the good qualities which have been built up so
carefully over the years will disappear and will not easily be built up again.
The moral is to breed first and foremost for tone and depth of song for, to some
extent, the Tours will look after themselves.
