The Lizard 337 



green, quite neutral in tint, and soft and somewhat velvety in 

 appearance, with the green so subdued and blended with yellow, 

 &c., as to lose that hard, harsh vividness, so peculiar to bad 

 specimens of this variety. In fact, the ground colour of a good 

 Lizard is somewhat difficult to describe accurately, and to 

 imitate it correctly would require a combination of various 

 colours in different proportions, such as green, yellow, sienna, 

 umber, and black, with a slight tinge of red and blue, and it 

 would probably prove a task of no mean difficulty to a practical 

 and accomplished artist to represent it faithfully. 



The silver Lizards are much lighter or greyer in colour than 

 the golden birds ; in other respects they should resemble each 

 other very closely. The latter, however, are considered the 

 greatest favourites with fanciers, and when good specimens 

 and in fine condition they are most exquisitely beautiful, 

 although it very frequently happens that the best capped birds 

 are most deficient in spangles, and vice versa. 



The cap of a prize bird ought to be elliptic in form, and 

 should commence at the top of the base of the upper mandible, 

 and extend in a parallel line immediately over the top of each 

 eye, leaving a slight mark above the eye like a pencil line, or 

 slight eyebrow, and should terminate at the base of the skull. 

 It is a most difficult matter to breed a Lizard with a perfect 

 cap, or even an approximation to one. Some birds are over- 

 capped, whilst others are considerably under-capped. Both are 

 faults; but an over-capped bird, provided the cap does not 

 extend too far below the line, is preferable to an under-capped 

 bird. Some caps run in a line with the lower instead of the 

 upper part of the upper mandible, and descend below the eye. 

 This is a grave fault : and all birds possessing caps of this 

 description are only fit for stock purposes. When the cap is 

 formed from the lower portion of the bill, it makes the bird 

 appear to have a white face ; and a bird thus disfigured is termed 

 "bald-faced." With the exception of white feathers in the 

 wings and tail, this is probably one of the greatest defects a 

 bird of this variety can possess. The cap is one of the essential 

 qualifications in a good Lizard. 



