THE iNORWICH CANARY 



219 



like the entire half of the wing dark ; but 

 we think seven feathers in each wing the 

 extreme limit for beauty, and prefer only 

 five or six, especially in a yellow bird. We 

 need scarcely say they must be the inner 

 feathers or secondary quills, and must form 

 a perfect V, the point of each feather 

 meeting its fellow, and the lighter brownish 

 colour of the outside edge matching exactly 

 with the corresponding bar on either wing. 

 Slovenly wing carriage is fatal to a telling 

 display, and the heavier the marking the 

 worse such carriage makes it look. Though 

 we say the dark feathers shoidd be confined 

 to the flights, many wings we have taken 

 notes of have had the corresponding coverts 

 dark also ; indeed, it is sometimes aston- 

 ishing, on expanding a wing for the purpose 

 of counting the feathers, to find how large 

 a portion of it is dark. But this is not of 

 so much importance except in close com- 

 petition, in which the nearest approach to 

 exactness must win, other points being 

 equal. The worst blemishes are the pre- 

 sence of occasional light feathers among 

 the dark ones, and the opposite ; and also 

 an obstinate very black feather, which 

 sometimes grows in the most provoking- 

 way among the bastard quills. Dark 

 feathers will also frequently ajDpear among 

 the smaller coverts, the first row often 

 being wholly dark, and though these are 

 hidden by the scapulars when the bird is 

 at rest, they show themselves when the wing 

 is raised, and the bird is said to have black 

 "butts." 



A dark feather on either side of the tail 

 is an addition to the markings, but a 

 qviestionable advantage to a 

 Norwich bird, because it is so 

 frequently accompanied by dark flue at 

 the base that what is gained one way is 

 lost another. A bird with a marked tail 

 and clear flue would beat one with a clear 

 tail ; but the difficulty is to get the gain 

 without its equivalent loss. And when, in 

 addition to this, we consider that the dark 

 tail-feather is scarcely visible unless the 

 bird be examined for it. so nuicli so that its 

 existence is not unfrequently overlooked 

 and would sometimes not even be sus- 



Tail Marks. 



" Clear 

 Birds. 



pcctcd but for the tell-tale dark flue, its 

 value as a show point cannot be nuich. The 

 most that is seen of it at any time is the 

 extreme outside edge, and unless there be 

 a sufficient number on each side — which 

 should not exceed three — to give a decided 

 character to the marking, we look upon it 

 as worthless, the six centre feathers, of 

 course, being clear. 



The highest point of development attain- 

 able by the Norwich Canary is the " Clear " 

 bird, which, as its name implies, 

 should present a imiform clear 

 colour throughout. Not the 

 slightest tinge should be observable in a 

 single feather, nor should the under-flue 

 of its spotless golden plumage show any 

 trace of its native green. This latter point 

 is not always insisted on even by the best 

 judges, provided a bird be absolutely 

 externally free from the slightest suspicion 

 of a stain ; but the possession of dark 

 colour anywhere may become a most 

 dangerous proi>erty to a show specimen, 

 since it is seldom entirely confined to those 

 places where it is entirely hidden, but is 

 apt to develop itself in certain feathers, 

 which, though they do not take a more 

 substantial form than mere down, are very 

 liable to carrj' at their extremities the colour 

 of the dark under-flue, the slightest indica- 

 tions of which, in a severe competition, 

 would disqualify a bird. The most usual 

 place in which it crops up to the surface 

 is on the downy covering of the thighs, 

 indicative of the fact that the native green 

 still lurks within, and is doing the work of 

 depositing colour in a way that never occurs 

 in the absolutely Clear bird. The question 

 as to what is a Clear bird is generally 

 answered by the definition : " One which 

 shows no green " ; and it is probable that it 

 will remain there, in the face of certain 

 dilficulties in carrying it any farther. But 

 we think the definition is open to objection, 

 and serious objection too. We have shown 

 how the native green is the fountain of 

 colour and how it has the capacity for 

 development ; and the object in breeding 

 from dark to clear is to maintain that 

 cajiacity to as full an extent as possible, 



