208 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



The Body. 



eifect. Xo idea of coarseness should attacli 

 to it, but neatness and elegance and delicate 

 close feathering should be its character- 

 istics ; coarse feathering and overhanging 

 eyebrows indicate a cross in the direction 

 of size not bred out. Tiie eye is dark, 

 full, bright, and sparkling ; the beak should 

 be neat and finely finished, free from any 

 appearance of coarseness, and of a clear 

 pinkish-white, free from discoloration, 

 though the whole or half of the ujipcr 

 mandible is sometimes dark. This is no 

 disqualification : but other ])oiiits being 

 equal, the clear beak would win. We are 

 speaking now of the " clear " bird, which 

 is one in which the wiiole of the feathers 

 are entirely free fro)n any dark marks 

 whatever. The discoloured mandible is 

 indicative of hidden marking somewhere 

 or other, which should be searched for, for 

 reasons which \\ill jiresently be cxj)lained. 



The neck should be short and full, the 

 under part foiining in profile a perfect line 

 of beauty with the breast, 

 which should he broad and 

 full, and IVathcrcd as smoothly as it is 

 possible to conceive. Any de]>arturc from 

 either of these properties is a defect of 

 sonic moment. The l)ack is broad, and 

 rises very sliglitly immediately after the 

 junction with the neck, forming a vei'v 

 delicate cur\<-. aiul uuist show most eoni- 

 ])acf feathering without the slightest dis- 

 position to open in the midflic. which is not 

 an imconnnon feature in some varieties. 

 Between tiie sliouidei-s it is slightly con- 

 vexed. Looked at from any ])oint of \iew. 

 the Ijird's outlines j)rescnt a series of sublic 

 cur\cs of singular i)canty — a feature com- 

 mon to all birds, in fact, the i)resence of a 

 liard line being nowhere visible. 



'I'hc wings should not be long, biil sliould 

 hai'nionise in length with the chul)b\- 



built bodv ; thcv must be carried 



Wings. 1111114 1 



ni'iiily closed, witlnint a symptom 



of droo|)iug. and tucked in close to the 



body, the flights matching feather for 



feather on the back, the primaries meeting 



in a point over the rum])-feathers without 



overlapping each other. The closer the 



flights are packed the better will the cokjur 



of the wing show itself, as only the extreme 

 outer edge of each feather is tinged, and 

 close lamination is necessary to maintain 

 the continuity. The same holds good with 

 the arrangement of the larger coverts and 

 the small feathers of the bastard wing, any 

 slovenliness here interfering most materiall\' 

 with the com])act appearance indispensable 

 for the uniform distribution of colour 

 throughout the entire member. 



The shoulders should be well covered by 

 the scapular-feathers and show no projec- 

 tion of any kind, the feath- 



f" J. ering throughout the whole 



Feathers. '^ , ^ 



of this part being of the 

 closest possible character, compactness and 

 perfect imlirication being the most neces- 

 sary conditions for the exhibition of coknu'. 

 The rump-feathers are the finest and most 

 silky in quality in the entire bird, and as 

 they merge in the upper tail-coverts, become 

 longer and narrower, the greater portion 

 of their length being clothed with snowy 

 white flossy under-flue. Any coarseness 

 here, or in the vent-feathers and inider 

 tail-coverts, is a blemish interfering with 

 the gradual tajxring which constitutes what 

 is known in the Fancy as a neat " waist," 

 and is one of the blemishes it is necessary 

 to breed out of any cross which may have 

 been made with a view to obtain size, which 

 it usually accom])auies. It is the jiresenee 

 or absence of this coarseness and want of 

 general comiiactness which indicates the 

 possession or lack of " (juality " — a term 

 almost iiudefinablc, anil a])|)Iicd to in- 

 dividual parts or to a balance of good 

 properties considered as a whole. 



The tail should lianiioiiisc in length with 

 the i)o(l\' and wings, and be inclined to 

 slu)i-tuess. The shai)e of the 

 in(li\ idiial t a.il-IV;i,tliei's -i.e. 

 narrow at their l)asc and slightly increasing 

 in width in the direction of their length, 

 tlie outer ones being the long(>st, and each 

 ol' the six on either side gradually decreasing 

 in length — will, of itself, determine the 

 correct shape of the tail, which cannot 

 belter Ix' described llian by coinparing it 

 with a closed fan. narrow at the innction 

 with tl\e boily, and slightly, but very 



The Tail. 



