GREYWING GREENS, (LIGHT & DARK)
Greywing Light Green x Greywing Light Green gives splendid results, always providing the birds mated are suitable not only in type but also in colour in general. If they are too dark in markings and not of the correct body colour but of a darker hue, then the youngsters are likely to be darker still. If one member of the pair is somewhat dark and the other rather light, or if they are both a little light, there is no reason why they should not be mated together; in fact if they are both just right as regards markings and body colour, whilst some of their chicks may be too heavy in markings, a number of them will most probably be of the correct shade and these can again be mated to Greywing Light Greens in the following season. By skilfully adopting this process with all Greywings one can breed Greywing to Greywing - always using specially selected birds - indefinitely without an out-cross; and this is not confined to the Greywing Greens but applies to other colours of Greywings also but in all cases only if the type is not deteriorating; and it is a fact that Greywings generally are neither so good nor so numerous as they were once upon a time.

In the old days we used to mate Greywing Greens, which were too dark in body colour and markings, to Light Yellows. Thus in the course of time we bred some Light Yellows very unattractive in colour however good they might be in shape and size, and their only use to us was for further Greywing Green mating. Consequently, we did not make the Yellow out-cross except when we considered it to be absolutely necessary. This is similar to the Greywing Blue and White story and I advise the Greywing Green breeder to keep his Greywings together except when he thinks an out-cross to a Normal is desirable. Some years ago there was a family of light Greens in this country that was split Yellow. It was a very good family, and produced many winners. The Yellow out-cross had probably been made a number of years before the time of this writing, without being repeated, but the latent Yellow factor was still carried, and occasionally when two of these Light Greens/yellow were paired together, Yellow youngsters made their appearance. These were big, fine birds of the type of their Green brothers and sisters, father and mother. I used some of them as mates for some too-dark Greywing Greens, and produced Greywing Greens/yellow which pleased me immensely.

This was an exceptional opportunity of "dipping into the Green" without actually using a light Green. The great advantage was that I bred in the first generation Greywing Greens/yellow instead of Light Greens/yellow. Of course, I bred more Yellows from subsequent Matings in the new line which I had started, and these were useless as show Yellows or for Light Yellow breeding. Some of them were used in later Greywing pairings. There was some wastage here, but in this particular case I considered it to be worth while. Greywing Dark Greens have considerable value as a breeding force in the production of greywing Cobalts, Greywing Blues, and Greywing Mauves, just as good Dark Greens render valuable service when used in the cultivation of Normal Cobalts and Normal Blues.

GREYWING OLIVES
Greywing Olives, like the other colours of Greywings, if they are becoming too dark in body colour and markings, can be crossed with other Greywing Olives of a lighter hue, and they can be used for crossing to Greywings in the "blue" series. It's a long time since I saw a Greywing Olive.

GREYWING BLUES, COBALTS, MAUVES, GREYS and VIOLETS
As stated earlier, the principles which apply to colour Matings in the Normal colour varieties apply to a certain extent to the colour Matings in the Greywing colour varieties, subject to those important modifications which I have referred to at length in regard to depth of markings, and the advisability of mating to Normal coloured birds occasionally if necessary to maintain size and type.

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