298 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



rcathors of tlie saddle ; and when it is 

 home in inind how gradually these iu- 

 erease in size, and how regularly they over- 

 lap each other, a pretty lair idea may be 

 formed as to wliat the baek of a good 

 Lizard should be like. Coninieneinii' inuue- 



THE FEATHER OF THE LIZARD SHOWING 

 SPANGLING 



diutcly at the Ijuck of the cap. it should 

 consist of a series of continuous chains of 

 spangles, gradually increasing in distinct- 

 ness and size. At first the spangles are 

 not distinct, but have more the ajipcar- 

 ance of black specks, owing to the dis- 

 position of the neck-feathers and the con- 

 tinuous shifting of their position from the 

 motion of the bird ; but when the spangling 

 is carried up on the crown, as is seen in a 

 broken cap, it assumes all its regular form, 

 though on a small scale. 



Wc have used the expression " continu- 

 ous chains." Regular rows of spangling 

 are necessary to form a good back, but 

 they must on no account resolve them- 

 selves into mere longitudinal strijx's. Each 

 link in the chain nuist have its clear 

 edging, and each spangle must be as 

 decided as the eyes in a ])cacoek's tail. 

 They nmst not be thrown on as if indis- 

 criminately and without method, but 

 arranged with the greatest regularity, to 

 which anything ap])r()aching open-feather- 

 ing is directly opposed. 



And this leads us to oTir closing I'cmark 

 on this feature. Excess of s])angling. when 

 it assumes the form of diniinuf i\c moons 

 and over-<l(V(lo])mcnl of lacing, produces 

 a luizy indistinctness technically termed 

 " moss," which is ])erhai)s the most danger- 

 ous sha]i(' in wliirli it can appear, as any 

 dis])()sitioii to obliteralc the dark eyes of 

 the spangles means doing away witli the 

 dark eentrc in the leather ^vliicli jii'oduees 

 thcni, and thus destroying the \cry life 

 of the variety. ^Vritc down a " mossy " 

 l)aek as being to spangle what a bald face 



The Wing. 



or other tendency to " running " is to the 

 cap. 



" Black, home to the quill," is one of the 

 oldest laws of a very old code, and indicates, 

 broadly, what should be the 

 general character of the 

 feather in the wing of the Lizard. It is 

 not, however, intended as an exact defini- 

 tion so much as to convey the idea that 

 black, or some form of black, is the standard 

 colour, and tiiat white or any tendency 

 thitherward is forbidden. The web and 

 flue sliould be " black, home to the quill, "■ 

 but the shaft or cjuill itself is only black 

 for as much of its length as is exposed, its 

 l)ase being nearly as white as that of any 

 ordinary clear flight-feather. A reference 

 to the illustration below and the coloured 

 plate Avill show that the inner flights in 

 particular are margined with a paler 

 shade of colour (a feature common to 

 all dark wings of whate\er colour), and 

 the beauty of the wing, so far as this 

 arrangement is concerned, consists in the 

 darkness of the web and stalk and the 

 rich character of the marginal edging, 

 \\hich is more or less brilliant as it is found 

 in the Gold or the Silver form of the bird. 

 Notice, further, that the extreme outside 



FOUL WING IN LIZARD. 



m.'irgin of the primary flights, or ten outer 

 fcalhers, is also fringed with an edging of 

 colour for sonic small portion of its length, 

 but il should not extend so far as that ])art 

 of the feather wlicrc the narrow portion of 

 the web is so much narrowed as to cause 

 the stalk to become almost the actual 



