Thr Canary. 11 



points; the most prominent among these being, perhaps, the 

 Lizard, then the London Fancy, the Belgian, Scotch, York- 

 shire, and IS'orwich, which each have a distinct individuality 

 of their own, and their circle of enthusiastic admirers: while 

 the rare Lancashire Coppy, in point of size and general ap- 

 pearance, takes precedence of them all as King of Canarydom: 

 anything like a good specimen of this variety not being pro- 

 curable for less than £20, while some specimens fetch twice 

 that amount, and even more. 



The Lizard branch of the family is subdivided into two 

 varieties, the golden and the silver spangled; the former have 

 a yellow, and the latter a mealy head, while their back and 

 shoulder feathers are laced with a border of a darker colour 

 than the tint of the body plumage, giving to the birds a scal- 

 loped or undulated appearance, supposed to recall the effect of 

 the markings on the scaly coats of the little reptiles whose 

 name they bear. Lizard Canaries are chiefly of small size, 

 and scarcely as distinguished as songsters as some of their 

 cousins. The Belgian Canary is a long slim bird, with his 

 head sunk down between his high shoulders, and in my opinion 

 is an unnatural looking creature, and no favourite of mine; 

 though it is not without its admirers too, who give long prices 

 for what they are pleased to call good birds. 



As far as regards appearance, I prefer the Scotch to the 

 Belgian Canary, though I believe the former to be simply a 

 modification of the letter. The Scotch Canary is another long, 

 slim bird, like the Belgian, but wants the high shoulders and 

 depressed head of the latter; it holds itself rather erect, with 

 the tail sweeping in under the perch, and the head bowing 

 forward to meet it, so that as it stands it almost forms a seg- 

 ment of a circle: the Scotch Canary is a great singer, loud 

 and indefatigable. 



The JN'orwich is a short, dumpy bird, larger than the Ger- 

 man, while the Yorkshire comes next to the Coppy in size 

 and gracefulness of carriage. Some writers make distinct 



