322 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



tics the very essence of a good Scotch 

 Fancy. 



Of course, a bird that has been worked 

 back for several generations, and has 

 become very much refined, and is beginning 

 to lose " to]) " or shoulder and reach, may 

 be safely paired back direct to the Belgian 

 with the best of results, and the young 

 from them will su])piy l)i'cediiig material 

 for several years without further recourse 

 to the Belgian. The ))oint is not to run 

 beyond your object : " short cuts "' are 

 often dangerous : feel yovu- way at every 

 turn you take, follow the results closely, 

 and remember that nervous energy and 

 sensitiveness are traits of character not 

 necessarily allied to form, and should never 

 be overlooked in conjunction with other 

 essentials in our bird. As far as possible 

 get the coat to fit the birds neatly by 

 pairing a loose- feathered bird to a close- 

 feathered one suitable in otiier points. 

 " Oh ! " some breeder may say, " I am 

 not going to trouble about loose feathers "; 

 but a careful breeder whose ambition is 

 to produce the highest state of perfection 

 should do so. 



Of the practical management of this 

 variety during the breeding season tiurc 

 is also nothing fresh to say. 

 Our large stacks of breed- 

 ing-cages arc not in \dguc, 

 at any rate in the Scotch circuit. ()|)(n 

 wire cages, such as we should at first sigiit 

 regard as " general purposes " or " flight " 

 cages, each a separate establishment by 

 itself, are in conuuon use 'J'hc nesting- 

 place is a wooden shelf fixed across ilic 

 one end of the cage resting on the middle 

 eross-bars; a round hole is cut in the cent re 

 of this shelf sufiicicntly large to allow the 

 nest to dro]) iri level by the rim which 

 keeps the nest secure. This shelf is removed 

 at the close of the season, when the cages 

 — which, ill a -wclhordcrcd room, arc of 

 imifoi'm pattern — arc placed siilc by side, 

 and l)eing generally of siijurioi- design jind 

 workmanship, look well, and m their light. 

 airy structui'e harmonise with the character 

 of the bird. T'or many years we bred 

 Scotch Fancies in the ordinary English 



Practical 

 Management 



box breeding-cage with every success, aiul 

 many other breeders on both sides the 

 Border follow the same system. 



As with the Belgian, it is well to keep 

 two or three jniirs of common feeders to 

 take the eggs <if any lu'ii that may turn 

 out a poor mother. Feeiling is just the 

 same for this variety as others of the 

 Canary tribe. It is a usual custom with 

 man\' brccdci's to shoitcn the tails of their 

 bi-ccding stock fully half the length when 

 the show season is over and the birds are 

 relegated to domestic duties. 



No more " training " is required for the 

 Scotch Fancy than that already described 

 for the Belgian. It appears to be born 

 with a full consciousness that the chief 

 business of its life is to ho]i the regulation 

 seven inches between the two perches of 

 its show-cage, of which an illustration is 

 given on Jiage 17S. 



These birds arc judged by couples in 



Scotland; there may be more than two 



judges, liiit two judges take a 

 Judging. ' 111 



class. i Ik- mode ol judging is 



for each man to take a cage, and then, 

 facing each other, each trots his bird out, 

 indulging, the whilt'. in little soliloquies. 

 Then they exchange cages, and the better 

 bird is kept for comparison with the lu-xt, 

 every specimen being most critically e.\- 

 aniiin-d, the best being set aside for a linal 

 sifting. 



In atU nipting to fi-anie a scale of points 

 loi- judging tile Scotch l''ane\". wt' ari' con- 

 scious that we are doing something of which, 

 to the best of our knowledge, Scotch 

 breeders themselves ha\'c seen im necessity ; 

 at all ex'elits, we ha\c not met with any 

 such scale haviiig an ant horitat i\ c inij)ress. 

 Our intention is simpl\ lo giv-e om' readers 

 in the usual tal)nlaled lorni some idea of 

 the relati\c worth of tlu- pa?t> which make 

 up this interesting whole, attaching to each 

 a \alue which will lea\'e suilieient margin 

 for a subtractivc ])roccss, and not rendering 

 c()mi)lieations more complicated in an 

 at1em|)l to draw too nice (list inet ions. 

 To feathci' and colour we liaNc a|)port ioned 

 just the vahu' lluy appear lo have in 

 Scotland — viz. nil ; but in taking leave 



