Don Ray gave a talk on Gloster canaries at the May meeting, telling of the pitfalls of inbreeding, such as loss of size in the birds and eggs.

Also, if an owner keeps pairing buff to buff, this can make the birds have lumps. In other words, coarse feather to coarse feather, until the feather becomes so large and soft that it cannot pass through the feather follicle, then turns back inside the skin, forming a mass which goes on swelling.

The next meeting will be on June 12 when there will be a talk on foreign birds by Graham Talk at the RAOB Club, Scotts Road, Stourbridge, starting at 8pm.