82 British Birds at (lie Crystal Palace Shoir. 



once win a first myself in the Goldfinch class. But I was not 

 thinking of my own bird — really I "n^asn't. Still, I feel that readers 

 won't believe me; so I'll st^er clear of the olden times. 



TJie Goldfinches were a nice lot, anyway, and the same may 

 be said of the Bullfinches, both cocks and hens. The cock class 

 once again evidenced the difficulty experienced by even the cream 

 of the house-moulted specimens in defeating a field-moulted rival 

 which excels in those "point," which go to make up the fancier's 

 ideal. The 2nd prize Bullfinch (Mr. G. Lawrence) was a gem in 

 every way; yet he had to "strike his colours" (in more senses 

 than one) to a bird in field-plumage (Mr. Longden) and a grand 

 example of the species, too. 



The season 1910—1911 has had its uncommon aspects; for 

 instance, Mealy Redpolls have been exceptionally plentiful and Wax- 

 wings readily obtainalile. It has been also a rare year for Lesser 

 Redpolls, Greenfinches, and Linnets, fine classes being the rule up 

 and down the country. At the Palace, however, by some strange 

 means the Linnet class turned out to be the weakest .seen for 

 many years, and may even have been the smallest on record. 



In certain of the other classes, too, the entry can only be 

 described as meagre. Possibly this is due to the fact that at this 

 late period of the season owners can to a certain extent gauge 

 the chances of their exhibits, and so refrain from entering except 

 where they think the possibility of a prize exists. But " form " 

 on the show-bench is often as little reliable a guide to the placings 

 as is " form " on the turf. Thus the Avinning Mealy Redpoll at 

 the Scottish National (Edinburgh) Show, in a record class of fifty, 

 here failed to get even a card; and the same fate befel the winning 

 colour- fed Greenfinch. The second prize Ypllow-Jiammer was down 

 to " highly commended," and the winning Twite Jth, beaten by a 

 bird which, I believe, stood cardless behind it at the great Scottish 

 event. Thus it seems clear that exhibitors ought never to take 

 defeat too much to heart— take, instead, another judge's opinion as 

 to the merits of their birds. Mr. Allen Silver went very strongly 

 for perfection of plumage and high condition. 



iLn incident was the dismissal of a protest against a Yellow- 

 hammer for alleged trimmed head-markings (the clearing of the centre 

 of the V) ; a happy ending for the exhibitor, and a curious one by 

 reason of this identical bird having been disqualified on the same 

 allegation at the Scottish National Shov,\ 



Some representatives of species which occasionally visit 

 England had a cold time of it, a Crested Lark (Gal&rita cristata) a 

 very rare and interesting bird, a Black-headed Bunting (E melanoce- 

 phala), and a Meadow Bunting, failing to attract carxls from the 

 judges. ' 



In the insectivorous section, I noticed several very good birds 

 obviously handicapped through being staged in cages too small for 

 them— Blackbirds, Starlings and Thrushes in particular require a 



