'.o8 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



proba!)ilit y tli;i1 in trying to perfect the 

 cleveloi)nient ol' spanole in some aneient 

 type, a form of albinism was detected 

 and encouraged; or tliat in attemi)tinj>- to 

 found a school which should moult fi-oni 

 dark to lioht. spangle was discovered, and 

 the admirers of each carried out either 

 in-operty to its ultimate issue, hxing and 

 perpetuating it till from one fountain 

 flowed the Uvo streams. 



Continuing our description tlie cap or 

 crown ought to be quite clear and free from 

 ticks or foul feathers of any description. 

 These may disappear in the moult, but 

 occasionally are not so easily disposed of. 

 The flights and tail-feathers, we have said, 

 should be black, or as nearly approaching 

 black as ])ossible. A white feather here 

 is a fatal blemish, and at once cancels all 

 lioi)cs of futuie greatness ; but if there be 

 but the faintest trace of grey in any i)art 

 of it, shaft or web, it does not disqualify. 

 Here the jmrallel between the show requi- 

 sites of flic Loiulon Fancy and Lizard will 

 be seen, ami also how identical arc the 

 essenlials of cither bird. 



In the adult bird the l)ody-colour is of 



the richest hue. It is seen in the greatest 



Ijrolusion on the crown, as 

 The Adult • ,, i ■,, , , . , 



Bird_ 1*^ usual with colour-liu'ds : 



and in all the old standards, 

 some of whieli, however, are very hazy 

 and uirndclligiblc. considerable weight is 

 attached to •■ purity and richness " as 

 displayed in this ))lacc. Throughout the 

 entire bird, .lud notably ou the breast, deep 

 golden orange should prevail. We make 

 no separate mention of the Ihiff form 

 because we l.ikc it that its eliaraetcrist ie 

 features are lamili;ir to the reader and 

 tiioroiighly imdcrstood in everv point, and 

 it will be umieeessary to say more than tli.it 

 it exists in the I.niiddii I'ancy, as in other 

 varieties, in all its attractive beauty. If 

 it possess any one feature j)ccnliar to itself, 

 it is a Tucilowncss and absence of the harsh- 

 ness sometimes ol)ser'\able in eeitain schools 

 of overgrown Xorwich, tiujugh there is 

 little or no dilTerenec between IJnIT in the 

 London Fancy and its development in the 

 purest type of the Xorwich bird. In the 



old days of the plain feeding, this Canary 

 was as deep in colour as anything on the 

 show-stage, and, in a good specimen, was 

 not surpassed by the warmest tones of the 

 best exam])lcs of the Norwich variety, 

 with which, indeed, we have known it to 

 be crossed with a view to the improvement 

 of colour, and with the best results. We 

 did not refer to this cross in its place, 

 sim))ly because the bird is so very scarce 

 now as never to be used for the purpo.se. 



The show plumage of the adult London 

 Fancy should exhibit no trace of its dusky 

 lirst-ieather garb, though very 

 Plumafie I'C'li^'pntlv a decent approxima- 

 tion to this has to sulHce. 

 Referring to this propensity to I'etain 

 something of its dark feathers, the late 

 -Mr. Brodrick, of Chudleigh, Devon, wrote 

 to the late ]\Ir. Blakston in the following 

 terms : 



" Wlu'ii I first oljtainiil I he London Fancy 

 in 1812 lluTf was not a hiid to Iw st'cii free 

 from licks or si)aiiglcs : now |rt'tVrriiifi to a 

 ])t-rio(l some twenty years laleij iumil)frs of 

 llieiii are quite spotless. I was, unrdiiiinalfly, 

 oliliged last year to introduce fresli hlood into 

 my old strain, and that lias thrown tluni some- 

 what back. Before this was done I bred as 

 many as ninety young birds with only tivo foul 

 tcatliers amongst tliem, and the large iiKiJorily 

 of them are quite free from ticks." 



The wing and tail feathers of the adult 

 obviously re(piire no lurther comment, 

 unless it be to note that in a show s|)ecimen 

 they should be black. Here also the 

 parallel between the London Fancy and 

 Lizard is apparent. 



One \\ ing-h'al lire remains to be noticed, 

 ill respect to which an ainoimt of licence 

 is granted which would not lie tolerated in 

 the Lizard. Black bastard leathers are 

 ini|)Ci'ati\(l\' demanded in the latter ; but 

 in the London I'ancy. although they are 

 considered most desirable and are highly 

 esteemed, they arc not included in the 

 category of wing-feathers, nuuibering eight- 

 een, which must be black, and therefore 

 thev may be white. .Many otherwise jK'r- 

 I'cet si)eeinicns exhibiting this shortcoming 

 - h)r such we consider it — which have 

 come under our notice have been admitfed 



