THE BORDER FANCY CANARY 



293 



It would appear at first that these gentle- 

 men dilTer widely on breeding evenly 

 marked birds, but in reality tlieir princi- 

 ples are the same ; it is simply a matter 

 of the one working through the hen and 

 the other from the cock, and it matters 

 not from which so long as it is followed 

 consistently, as explained in the chapter 

 on Even-marked Breeding. 



The production of Clear, Ticked, or 



Unevenly marked Borders is regulated, as 



in other varieties, by the 



Clear, TicKed pairing of Clear to Ticked 

 or Unevenly ,, 1 j .1 



Birds. quires. If a fancier is 



breeding a preponderance 



of Marked birds, this tendency must be 



checked by pairing Clear Yellow to Clear 



Buff for a season or two until the desired 



number of Clears is produced amongst the 



stock. 



By kind permission, we here publish the 



Border Fancy Canary Club's standard of 



excellence : 

 The Club 



Standard. 



The grand essentials of a Border 

 Fancy Canary are type and quality. Without these 

 it is worthless. 



The general appearance is that of a clean-cut, lightly 

 made, compact, proportionable, spriglitly. close- 

 feathered, smallish-sized Canary, showing no tendency 

 to heaviness, roughness or dullness, but giving the 

 impression of fine ([uality and symmetry through- 

 out. 



Head. — Small, round, and neat looking ; bill, fine ; 

 eyes, dark and bright ; neck, rather fine and proportion- 

 ate to head and body. 



Body. — Back, well filled and nicely rounded, running 

 in almost a straight line from the gentle rise over the 

 shoulders to the point of the tail : chest, also nicely 

 rounded, but neither heavy nor prominent, the line 

 gradually tapering away to vent. 



Wings. — Compact, and carried close to the body, 

 just meeting at the tips. 



Legs. — Of medium length, showing little or no thigh, 

 fine, and in harmony with the other points ; feet, 

 corresponding. 



Size. — Not to exceed 5J inches in length measured 

 in the usual way. 



Plumage. — Close, firm, and fine in quality, present- 

 ing a smooth, glossy, silky appearance, and free from 

 frill or roughness. 



Tail. — Close-packed and narrow, being nicely rounded 

 and filled in at the root. 



Colour. — Rich, soft, and pure, as level in tint as 

 possible throughout, but extreme depth or hardness, 

 such as colour-feeding gives, are objectionable in this 

 breed, and should be discouraged. Red-fed birds dis- 

 tinctly debarred. 



Position. — Semi-erect, standing at about an angle of 

 45 deg. 



Carriage. — Gay and jaunty, with a fine, free pose 

 of the head. 



Health, condition, and cleanliness shall have due 

 weight. 



In judging marked birds, " type and quality " 

 should form the first consideration in these as in other 

 classes, and no prize should be awarded for good 

 marking alone where the type does not conform to the 

 Club standard. 



Further to enhance the value of the 

 description of the essential points described 

 in the Border Club's standard, we appor- 

 tion a scale of points to them : 



Points of ]\Ierit 

 Shape 



Head, neck, and beak. 

 Back well filled and level 



Miixinnim 

 U) 

 10 

 10 



Plumage : body feather close, firm, and good 



quality. ...... 10 



Wings : for compactness and good carriage . 10 



Tail : closely folded and good carriage . . 5 



Colour : depth, brilliancy and purity . . 10 



Position and jaunty carriage . . . 10 



Size : not to exceed 5i inches ... 10 

 Legs and Feet : medium length, and free from 



blemish ...... 5 



Condition : lieallh, cleanhness and sound feather 10 



Total 



100 



