3i6 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



and I he licad is hciil (ill llic hrak poiiils iniiuinls, 

 every ui)\var(l nic>\eineiil of I lu- shoulders lieinu; 

 aceoinpaiiied liy a fuiiher (ie\ ilo])ineiit ol' the 

 areli and a niori' determined tuc-l<inu;-in ol' I lie 

 head, as seen in the illustial ion of I he Idi'al 

 Helgiaii Canary. 



This " position," the credential of a 

 hiiili-class Bejoian. is an inborn cpiality 

 which cHnos to it as lone- as life lasts. 

 Some birds possess the tanieness or famili- 

 arity necessary to a display of their ])ro- 

 ])crties from the nest, wiiilc others, 

 thongh good birds, require constant train- 

 ing in the show cage (see page 170) before 

 sliowing off to perfection. Still if there be 

 gentility it will come out ; but if it be nof 

 there, all the training that can be brought 

 to bear will not develop that which docs not 

 exist. A high-bred young bird, when sitting 

 on the nest-edge, can be made to show to a 

 surprising degree what jiromisc it has of 

 future greatness, and there can be no 

 "" training "" here. Still all birds sho\dd 

 be steadied and made familiar with the 

 sliiiNv cage by running them into it and 

 handling the cage gently whenever a few 

 sj)are moments are available. 



We have made no mention of colour, 

 beyond that it adds to the bc'auty of a 

 good s|)ecimen, and in the way 

 in wliicli exhibitors understand 

 colour il has no nioi'c a|)|)rtcial)lc Aaluc in 

 JJelgian than in the Scotch Fancy, for 

 the sim|)le reason that shape and jiosition 

 ai'c ///(• essentials (d' these two birds, and 

 (dher points are (luite subsidiary, and yet. 

 in oiu' opinion, they should ncjt be altogether 

 neglected. 



A useful classification to jiopularise the 

 ]{clgian amongst fanciers, proxidcd we had 

 a few more breeders, woidd he as follows : — 



(a) Clciir iiiicl 'I'ickcd Yellow CiicUs. 

 (ft) Ck'iir iuul 'licked Yellow 1 lens, 

 (r) Clear :in(l Ticked liidV Cocks. 

 ((/) Clear and Ticked liulT I lens. 

 ((•) VarieHaled Yellow (^ocks. 

 (/) Varieyalcd Y'cllow liens. 

 ifl) Varie;i;iled I'.idT Cocks. 

 ill) \'ariet^alcd Hull I lens. 



To which might still be added a class 

 each for current year Yellows and l?ulTs. 

 An idea held stroiiglv ..i the seventies of 



Colour. 



the last century that ]\Farked Helgians v/ere 

 nnu-h infirior to Clears has long sinc-e been 

 ex])lodcd, and in fact some of the best show 

 birds of recent years have been saddle 

 marked. For instance Mr. .1. Robertson's 

 (High Harrington, Cumberland) saddle- 

 marked Bull' had an almost luibeaten record. 

 For shape, shoulder, and position he was 

 indeed a marvel, and we could give many 

 similar instances. 



AVe illustrate a useful travelling cage for 

 Birds of I'osition. The sliding end door 

 allows them to run in or out as recjuired, 

 and by placing the o]ien dottr in trout of 

 their cage, and gently passing a thin wan<l 

 between the wires to guide them to this 

 open door, the birds soon learn their lesson, 

 and pass quickly from one cage to another. 

 The ]ierches in the travelling cage are 

 arranged just sulTiciently high to keep 

 the bird's tail from touching the bottom. 



As regards stock, Belgians can be obtained 



through an agent on this side or in Belgium. 



or bv being vour own agent 

 Breeding. ' . ,. .. 



and gomg across lor it your- 

 self, tiood Belgians are, however, not so 

 rare in this country that they cannot be 

 pidcuix'd : but specimens above the average 

 quality always conmiand long prices in 

 private hands, not only on account of their 

 intrinsic wcirlli. lint from their \aluc as 

 show-birds. The age (d' tlic birds is not 

 very material, though the custom in 

 Belgium is to pair an o\cr-yeai' cock with 

 a first season, i.e. maiden, iicn. 'I'hc main 

 point is to start with good brced'ni'^ stock, 

 whicli is n()t always the l)est slioic slock. 

 F\)r instance a iiird of exceptional size, 

 c\cn though a little coarse in i)uild. so 

 long as it possesses plenty of shoulder and 

 good ])osilion (whicli must nc\cr he sacri- 

 ficed) would be prefei'able to an all round 

 show bird to ]iair with a typical specimen 

 lacking in size. 'I"hc foi-mcr slock bird is 

 just oNcr the line of line show |)ropcrtics, 

 but is a \aluablc asset in building them n]i. 



Certain tvpes of the old Dutch and Dutch 

 ]''rill Canaries arc nid far removed frc'in 

 the J5clgian. and doubtless bcntdieial crosses 

 have been taken from these at times. 



In sclcfding our lirsl pairs, if oppoitiinlly 



