NATIVE HARDBILLS
WHEN I first saw the bird fancy, as a child in the early 1960s, the top British bird men exhibited a team of birds. When I say a team, I mean a range of hardbill species, which would include mules and hybrids, and sometimes softbills, too.
From those times, the names I recall are Johnny Arnold, Tony Durnford, Sandy Paterson, Jimmy Rutter, Grosvenor Ridgway… there were many others. They seemed to keep anything that they could get their hands on that was any good and showed any prospect of winning the top awards. Some wonderful teams were on
