The Modern Scotch Fancy. 247 



The friend to whom I have already referred once said to me, 

 "We mun hae the circle and the gleg tail; these canna be 

 dispensed with at nae price." And these characteristics are 

 still preserved, and in my opinion constitute the most important 

 feature in a bird of this variety. The origin of these birds 

 was probably a cross between the old French and Dutch 

 canaries, and then with the old type of Belgian canary, which 

 was more circled than those of the present day. Twenty 

 years ago a " Don " was required to be slim, very circular in 

 form ("half mooned" as many Scotch breeders term it), fine 

 in feather, with great freedom and grace of movement, and 

 quick action and celerity, known as " style," which is obtained 

 by training the birds to move rapidly from perch to perch by 

 a motion of the hands. In the old-fashioned "Don" promi- 

 nence of shoulder was not admissible, as it was considered 

 to break the circular line ; an exhibition of thigh was 

 looked upon as a grave defect, and a stiff tail as most 

 objectionable. 



Such was the ideal Scotch Fancy a quarter of a century 

 ago, and even less; but comparing a bird of this description 

 with one of the present period, it might truly be said, in 

 scriptural language, " Behold, old things have passed away, 

 and all things have become new," for the ideal bird of the pre- 

 sent generation of fanciers is a widely different creature in its 

 general tout ensemble to the bird we have described, and some 

 of our English fanciers are difficult to persuade that the 

 modern birds are Scotch Fancies at all. They regard these 

 more recently produced specimens as Belgians pure and 

 simple, as they do not discover the difference between the 

 round back and tail of the "Don" and the square back and 

 straight tail of the Belgian bird. 



From what we have said, it will be readily understood that 

 the only way to obtain birds that are likely to meet .with 

 approval is to breed freely between the long circular Dons 

 and the big-shouldered, long-necked, fine-headed Belgian birds, 

 selecting for future use all birds that possess the best points 

 required ; the object being to get the fine head, neck, and 



