244 The Canary Book. 



well acquainted with the mode of obtaining them ; that has 

 to be acquired by deep study and close observation, and it 

 will require years of practical breeding to insure success, as 

 Scotsmen do not as a rule believe in allowing their best birds 

 to leave the country, whatever the temptation offered may be. 



I will, in dealing with this subject, endeavour to throw some 

 light on the modus operandi to be observed in breeding, and 

 I trust it will be the means of assisting and giving renewed 

 hopes to Englishmen who are desirous of perfecting their 

 strains, according to the most modern ideas prevalent among 

 Scotsmen, as to what constitutes a " model " specimen of u 

 gran' burd. 



Besides having lived for nearly ten years at that noted old 

 border town, Berwick-on-Tweed, where several ardent fanciers 

 and breeders of these birds reside, and in close proximity to 

 Ayton, Hawick, Galashiels, and other border towns, where 

 high-class specimens have at different times been produced, 

 I have been in close communication for several years with 

 many of the most eminent breeders in some of these towns 

 and in Edinburgh, and have bred and successfully competed 

 with birds of my own breeding against the most distinguished 

 exhibitors in Scotland at that day. I hope, therefore, to be 

 able to assist those who have not had the same opportunities 

 of extending their knowledge. 



I have already, in the previous chapter, given full details 

 of the old variety of the " Glasgow Don," and I will, in 

 dealing with the new type, endeavour to set forth clearly and 

 tersely the principal methods adopted by the best breeders of 

 the day in obtaining, developing, and perfecting the high 

 qualities possessed by the birds of the present day. It must, 

 however, not be forgotten that there is even now a great deal 

 of difference of opinion among the Scotch fanciers themselves, 

 and a goodly proportion of those of the old school condemn 

 the using of Belgian blood too freely, which they consider an 

 innovation, and some even go so far as to say that the " grand 

 old breed is being ruined by young go-a-heads." 



It is a common and prevalent idea among amateur bird 



