Abstract
Three years ago I wrote an article describing the Parisian Frill canary, describing its beautiful characteristics in detail. The pans of the Parisian Frill are all named using the French language. It took much research and translation to assemble this article. Convinced of its accuracy, the article was accepted and published in the September 1979 issue of American Cage-Bird Magazine.
Five weeks after the article appeared in A.C.B.M., I received a letter from Marseille, France. It was written in very good English and signed by Francois Bourdon, a Frenchman obviously by his name and the origin of the letter. What prompted Francois to write the letter was to correct two incorrectly spelled French words which he noticed when he read the article. Constructive criticism never hurt anyone. To the contrary, Francois and I became very good friends. We have been corresponding since then, exchanging ideas on aviculture in general. In his letters Francois invited me many times to visit him if ever in Europe. Last summer my son and I, Tony Jr., who had a desire to search for our family roots, went to Europe. And one of our side trips was a visit to Francois.
From Los Angeles, after one stop in New York, we landed in Milano, Italy. There we rented a car, and our adventure began by dodging Europeans who drive like Kamikaze pilots! During the first days of our tour in Northern Italy, we visited many bird breeders. One breeder who deserves mention is my long-time friend, Domenic Zanchetta, whom I've
known for many years.
Domenic is a dedicated breeder of Parisian Frills. A winner at most local shows, this year he became champion at the International Show (C.O.M.) which was held in Belgium. To win at the International Show is quire an honor. There were more than 15,000 birds exhibited. Domenic lives in the small town of Saronno, bordering Milano. He has a beautiful home surrounded by a garden with many fruit trees and a vegetable garden yielding many greens which he cultivates with render loving care. His canaries never miss a day without greens or fruit. The two-room guest house with its colorful riled floors located at the end of the garden is his bird room. There he breeds and houses his most exquisite Parisian Frills. Every rime I visit Domenic I rum green with envy. He has the best Parisian Frills in the world.
As in previous times when visiting Domenic, we didn't escape without a good Italian dinner and some vintage wine from his own cellar. The same day, Domenic rook me to see his friend, Ignazio Giarnbertone , who breeds Gibber Iralicus canaries. Ignazio lives in Milano where he made one of the rooms of his 5th floor apartment into
a bird room. I was impressed with his breeding cages which he made himself. The cages are made of brass stock and then chromed. The seed hoppers are all hand-made and have a wire mesh bottom to prevent accumulation of dust. Ir is a very convenient device; there is no need of blowing the dust and getting a headache.
Ignazio's Gibber Italicus canaries are the finest I have ever seen. For those who don't know, Gibber Italicus is the smallest of the frilled canaries developed in Italy. I am very proud of this breed, which I keep myself.
Our next objective was to head for France. We left Milano at 8:30 in the morning and 3 hours later reached Genova on the Mediterranean coast. Italy has very good freeways, and driving through the Italian countryside is a pleasure. The stretch from Milano to Genova reminded me of our beautiful Oregon. Once on the Mediterranean coast, we drove toward the town of Ventimiglia, which is on the border of France. Still hugging the coast, we crossed the border where the freeway then rides high above the French Riviera.
We passed the Principality of Monaco, then Nice and Cannes, and arrived in Marseille at 3: 30 in the afternoon. The traffic at this time is maddening. After securing a room at a hotel, we went to visit with Francois. He was very surprised as I never told him I was coming. My whole trip to Europe was a last-minute decision, so I had a good excuse for not being able to warn him.
Francois and his girlfriend, Erni, were very glad to see us. His three bedroom apartment is perched on the 16th floor. Two bedrooms are used to house his birds. His main interests now are Zebra and Sociery Finches. Francois is fascinated with new mutations. Recently, he acquired a frilled Zebra from a Japanese breeder in Tokyo . He has other frilled Zebras which he breeds with great care. His objective is to establish and cultivate this mutation to a point where it would resemble the beautiful Parisian frilled canary.
The walls of Francois's apartment are lined with shelves full of books and magazines, all bird related. Francois subscribes to 50 bird magazines, including "Watchbird." His love affair with birds began when he was 15 years old. His mother gave him a pair of Spice Finches (Lanchura punctulata). Later he bred budgerigars and Type canaries.
My intention was to have a short visit with Francois, but he insisted that we stay in Marseille at least two days. The next day, they gave us a royal tour of Marseille and we also visited the Museum of Modern Art.
On the same day, Francois included in the itinerary a visit with a noted canary breeder. In the afternoon we visited with Mr. Claude Catalano . We were greeted by him and his very gracious wife who appears to be involved with canaries just as much as Claude is.