236 The Canary Book. 



except the one which is nationalised to Scotland, unless it be the 

 Belgian canaries. There are certainly a few among their number 

 who are able to appreciate these birds ; but as for the Norwich 

 Fancy, London Fancy, Yorkshire Fancy, and the like, they 

 set little value upon these varieties, as a rule; and I do verily 

 believe that many of them would not accept the best specimens 

 of these birds that could be found, a,a a present, if they were 

 given upon the condition that they were not to part with them, 

 so great is their aversion to these varieties of canaries. On the 

 other hand, very few of our English fanciers look with favour 

 upon the Scotch Fancy birds; they regard them as mere 

 " mongrels," and style them half and three-parts bred Belgian 

 canaries, and say, " What is the use of breeding these birds ? 

 far better go in for the genuine article at once." But the 

 reason is that they do not understand the criterion of merit in 

 these birds, and consequently they see them from a very different 

 point of view to what Scotchmen do. 



I am not quite sure myself but that our far-seeing friends are 

 after all much nearer the mark than we in England are prone to 

 acknowledge. They have evidently discovered by experience that 

 the Belgian birds are naturally so extremely delicate that they 

 are not constitutionally adapted to the severity of our climate ; 

 hence they have resolved to cross them with other birds, similar 

 in form, but more hardy and thoroughly inured to this country, 

 and have by this method produced a new variety, which is not 

 very much inferior in point of symmetry, style, and majestic 

 beauty to some of the Belgian birds, whilst they possess the 

 advantage of being so thoroughly acclimatised as to be able 

 to endure all the vicissitudes and hardships that can be borne by 

 the strongest and hardiest of our other varieties. I do not con- 

 tend that a " Don " or " Scotch Fancy " canary is equal to a high- 

 class Belgian bird in external beauty far from it but I hold that 

 they are by far the best substitutes that have been found ; and 

 when once you clearly understand the features that are striven 

 to be obtained in these birds, you gradually begin to appreciate 

 them. If the prejudice which Englishmen entertain towards 

 these birds could be overcome, I think they would rank high in 

 general estimation in a short time ; but Englishmen appear to 



