The Belgian. 231 



on their return journey. Several instances have come within 

 my own personal knowledge where Belgian canaries have been 

 set long distances in cold, bleak, wintry weather, with the 

 thermometer several degrees below freezing point, carelessly 

 packed, and badly protected against the bitter, biting winds and 

 falling snow. When the birds arrived they were "all in a 

 heap," shivering, and stupefied from the effect of the cold, and, 

 as might be expected, sat dull and mopish, and would not 

 " pull " themselves together. No wonder, then, that these birds 

 arriving only an hour or two before the judges were called 

 upon to decide upon their merits, were passed by unnoticed. 

 Next day, after they had got thoroughly warmed up, they might 

 have been seen "pulling" over everything in the class, to the 

 great chagrin of both judges and exhibitors. But who was 

 to blame ? How often are judges of these birds subjected to 

 derision, by the unthinking portion of the " fancy," who hurl at 

 the heads of those poor unoffending men the most uncompli- 

 mentary and opprobrious epithets, when in reality no just 

 censure is attributable to them. 



ADVICE TO JUDGES. A hint here to judges and others 

 connected with shows may be found useful. As soon as you 

 enter a show where you have been chosen to act in a judicial 

 capacity, I would recommend you in the first place to take a look 

 through the classes for Belgian canaries. If you find a bird 

 drooping, call the attention of the secretary or other responsible 

 person to the fact, and request that such bird, or birds, may 

 at once be conveyed to the immediate locality of a fire or stove, 

 and there gradually warmed. In a case of this kind, always 

 leave the judging of these classes to the last; take care, 

 however, to have the bird, or birds, returned to their place fully 

 half an hour before you pronounce your final verdict on their 

 merits, otherwise, if the bird, or birds, had not time to cool 

 down, it, or they, might possibly get some slight advantage over 

 their antagonists who had not received a similar privilege. 

 Committees, too, should invariably place the Belgian classes in 

 the wannest part of the room. I have always found these 

 precautions, whether acting in the capacity of a judge, secretary, 

 or a committee-man, to give satisfaction. In judging Belgian 



