June 13, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



491 



two years ago were very interesting, and admirable in their 

 practicalness. As he says, some old fanciers in Birmingham will 

 iiot allow a muff-legged hird in their loft. There would seem 

 to be no difficulty, from the great prevalence of the flymg fancy 

 in Birmingham, to breed-up true to colotu' and proper Tumbler 

 characteristics, with each bird being "a good performer," al- 

 though colour appears there to have greatly neglected, as, in- 

 deed, everywhere, I fear. Thus, the high flying Tumblers sent 

 by Mr. Brent into Wiltshire some years ago were good on the 

 wing, but broken baldpate-looking things, the very reverse of 

 baiiutiful. I hope that many more besides " Scotch Thistle," 

 wUl derive pleasure from watching the habits of the pretty little, 

 easily-managed English Tumbler.— Wii-tshiee Eectok. 



SELLING DISEASED PIGEONS. 



I NOTICED a report of a County Court case at Swansea in which 

 I was the defendant. I may mention that I was partly prepared 

 to see such a report, as I received a letter from the plaintiff in- 

 forming me that he intended summoning me for the other pair 

 /copy of which letter I enclose to you), and also that a report of 

 the proceedings would be inserted in several papers, with the sole 

 pui-pose, I presume, of damaging my character as a breeder of 

 fancy poultry and Pigeons. I have sold hundreds of Pigeons and 

 poultry, and have never had a complaint from any with whom 

 "I have done business, and this is the first time I have ever had 

 occasion to be in a County Court during my experience of 

 poultry and Pigeon breeding. I always make it a rule when I 

 send goods on approval, as I did in this case, to have a post-office 

 order payable ten days after date. 



The Herald st&teB that Mr. Crook, in addressing the jury, told 

 them it was a common practice to sell diseased Pigeons. If that 

 is his experience it is, I am happy to say, not mine, and I hope 

 there are many others who can say the same. The Judge gave 

 me a verdict when the case was previously heard, on the giound 

 that the birds ought to have been declared diseased a long time 

 before they were so declared. Whilst the birds were in posses- 

 sion of the plaintiff I received a post-card from him stating that 

 he liked the birds very much, and would keep them, which 

 card I produced at both hearings of the case. The second pair 

 ■which he threatens to sue for were also sent ten days on approval, 

 and were bought by him after the first pair had been in his 

 possession six days, which is sufficient time for any fancier to 

 tell whether a bird is diseased or not. The birds were sound 

 when I sent them to him, and no disease of any kind was amongst 

 my stock. At the inclement season of the year (November) high- 

 class Carriers would be Uable to catch cold going a journey by 

 rail, for which, as I said in my defence, I do not consider I am 

 responsible. I enclose you a copy of the threatening letter I 

 have mentioned, and I would be glad if you have a space to give 

 it publicity. — John W.\.Tiaxs. 



[We think the jury were misled, for the Pigeons being placed 

 in the purchaser's possession for ten days gave him ample time 

 for him to ascertain if they were diseased. If a new trial were 

 granted and fuller evidence of the healthiness of your birds were 

 produced, we think the verdict would be reversed. The Judge 

 oiving you a verdict in the first instance is immaterial, for his 

 Secision was merely on an omission in the pleadings. The letter 

 sent to you by the plaintiff is quite indefensible.— Ens.] 



EVENLY-MAKKED CANARIES AND MULES. 



"How on earth can a bird be evenly-marked which has an 

 odd number of pkices on its body dark, such as wings, tail, and 

 cap ? Three places, or perhaps some people would say five- 

 each side of the tail two, each vring two, and cap one, making 

 five altogether. Canaries and Mules ought to be judged by the 

 same rules, and in my opinion the most desirable even-marking 

 is pencilled eyes and even saddle. Black in the tail is an 

 abomination, and a dark cap worse. AfterpencUled eyes and even 

 saddle, I place clear head and even saddle." So writes one of 

 the piUai-s of the fancy, one of the most successful Mule ex- 

 hibitors we have. The style is forcible, the question propounded 

 a puzzler, and the opinion expressed one deserving of respect. 



" Much has been said about Evenly-marked Canaries, but I 

 do not agree with the decision of Mr. Robert C. Wallace, who 

 has offered his opinion on what he considers the form of mark- 

 ing should be. I therefore beg to detail my knowledge of the 

 standard. All evenlv-marked birds should be marked on both 

 sides of the eyes, back and front, half on the wing, and one black 

 feather on each side of the tail. From the beak to the tail end, 

 under and over, should be clear of all foul feathers. In this part 

 of Yorkshire and Lancashire we do not consider eye marks alone 

 or wing marks alone to constitute show birds, nor do we consider 

 birds marked on the wings and in front of the eyes only as good 

 birds for show. To constitute a show bird the marldng must go 

 round the eyes from front to back. As for cap-marked birds, 

 no such thing goes to a show ! At Middlesbrough and Bail- 

 don, they, this year, made a distinct class for them in the 

 Uneven-marked class. I think they have put them in the right 



place." So wi-ites another very old Yorkshire breeder who has 

 staged as many winning Evenly-marked Yorkshire birds as most 

 admirers of that variety. 



I have been asked to add my opinion on the subject, and I 

 apprehend the two letters from which I have quoted have been 

 sent to furnish me with a few pegs on which to hang a few notes. 

 I wiU not attempt to prove as an abstract question how a bird 

 can be evenly-marked when it has an odd number of marks on 

 its body, though now-a-days it is possible to prove almost any- 

 thing—even that a man is the daughter of his grandfather's son 

 —an incontrovertible fact. But if the tail be admitted as one of 

 the places in which marks proper may be found, then, unless 

 there be a limit to the number of dark feathers admissible in the 

 tail, it is quite possible for a bird to have six on one side and six 

 on the other, and who shall say this is not even ? But the fact 

 is, the tail is a most objectionable place for marks. Bh-ds have, 

 unfortunately, only one tail. For the sake of the fancy this is 

 perhaps to be regretted, in other respects it is an admissible 

 arrangement. It is dangerous ground on which to tread when 

 attempting to legislate on the subject of even-marking on a single 

 member, inasmuch as they may increase on either side till the 

 idea intended is lost in uniformity. "Black in the tail is 

 abomination." It is at least but of little or no value, for even 

 in the case of an evenly tail-marked Canary or Mule there is m 

 ninety-nine cases out of every hundred the presence of a most 

 objectionable dark flue round the base of the dark feathers which 

 is barely counterbalainced by the evenly-marked tail— nay, is not 

 coimterbalaneed by it, for I should repudiate a beauty which 

 necessitated the existence of an eyesore in its immediate neigh- 

 bourhood. If the evenly-balanced tail exists without any per- 

 ceptible dark flue, I am wiUing to admit that such a tail would 

 score, though I am by no means wiUing to admit that a six- 

 pointed bird becomes of necessity a better bird than a four- 

 pointed one, but very frequently the contrary. 



Besides being restricted to one tail, birds are hmited to one 

 head a-piece ; but they have two eyes and two wings, and here 

 must we look for true even-marking, clear and decided. What 

 exists on the thighs is of so undecided a character as to be of no 

 avaU for show purposes, and only in a very close contest where an 

 exact estimate of points was required would it be taken into con- 

 sideration. Practically it has a negative rather than a positive 

 value. 



With regard to eye-marks, I should consider circular marks 

 simply hideous. The marking described above is the true type 

 of perfection as universally accepted. It should come froni a 

 weU-deflned point clear of the front of the eye, pass a hair s 

 breadth above and below it, and, foUowing the curve of the head, 

 sweep away in a pencilled line, finishing in a point. Such mark- 

 ing is seldom seen. A lot of spurious stuff which has to pass 

 for even-marking finds its way into our shows, but there is a wide 

 difference between the neatly pencilled eye and an irregular 

 patch on the side of the head, which in some parts of its area 

 happens to enclose the eye. The one is a mark of gi-eat value, 

 the other is next to worthless, assuming more of the character 

 of a blotch, to which class belong caps of all kinds. They are 

 not markings proper. They do not exist in localities m which 

 they can be repeated in dupUcate. Existing in conjunction with 

 even-marking, they mar its beauty and spoil its effect. I entii-ely 

 agi-ee with Mr. Hawman that a perfectly clear run from the beak 

 to the taU, above and below, is a sine qua non m a marked bird. 

 As well might a spangled back (in itself a beautiful marking), or 

 a horseshoe on the breast, be accepted for even-marking as 

 recognise a cap. Sometimes, however, it has been thought 

 desirable to allow birds with oval caps to compete with evenly- 

 marked ones, as at the gi-eat Cheltenham Show last year. Such 

 arrangement is, not to be mistaken for the enunciation of a 

 principle or the tangible expression of an opinion; it is rather 

 a compromise between the rigidly exacting definition Evenly- 

 marked," and the comprehensive " Best marked or variegated 

 of the Palace. But if the hcau ideal of an exactly marked bird 

 be one with a clean run above and below, it is only playing 

 variations on " The Old Man and his Ass " to depart from this 

 universally recognised standard with a view to include m any 

 class birds which have no business there, and for which special 

 provision is made in a section where imperiections m^ marking 

 are ignored in favour of colour and quaUty. Into this section 

 capped bird ought to go. 



I believe that we in Sunderland were the first to append to our 

 schedules a definition of what we wished to be understood by 

 even-marking, that the judges might adjudicate according to the 

 spirit of oiu- schedule, and not according to any whim or caprice 

 of their own. Any committee has a right to offer prizes for what 

 it thinks fit, only let it be cleariy specified what the conditions 

 are, and a judge who neglects to read his schedule or pooh- 

 poohs its instructions fails in his duty. It will be found 

 that mth scarcely a single exception every Canary society m 

 the country holds the same views on even-marking, slightly 

 modified, perhaps, as to the amount of wing or tail marks, but 

 most assuredly united as to the exclusion of caps. Indeed, the 

 understanding is so general that a definition is unnecessary, ex- 



