The Lizard. 339 



supposed, a drawback, it adds greatly to its beauty, and is 

 indicative of very high breeding and superior quality. The 

 spangling should not be broken up or laced, but ought to appear 

 perfectly distinct throughout, both in form and finish, and this 

 is one of the greatest points of beauty and attraction in the 

 Lizard canary. Over the body feathers there appears, in the 

 golden-spangled Lizards, a sort of subdued golden shade or 

 light, called by some fanciers the "crine," and in the silver- 

 spangled birds it is of a fine silvery-grey hue, and adds 

 much to their beauty; some birds are quite destitute of 

 this luminosity a sure indication of coarse breeding or bad 

 blood. 



The legs, feet, and bills are considered by most fanciers to 

 look best when dark, but, for my part, I attach very little 

 importance to this feature, and I regard it only as a secondary 

 consideration, as I have almost invariably noticed that such 

 birds as possess it naturally (for in too many cases it is 

 artificially produced) are too green in their ground colour and 

 the ground colour is a speciality which ought to be regarded 

 as a sine qua non in an exhibition bird. The two most beau- 

 tiful and perfect specimens of this variety of bird I ever saw 

 had red or flesh-coloured legs and feet; in all other respects 

 they were the nearest approximation to perfection that could 

 be imagined. 



The Lizard canaries are from 4f in. to 5in. in length upon an 

 average. The head should be rather large than otherwise, with 

 an abundance of width between the eyes, and flattish on the 

 crown; the beak rather stout and short; the neck thick, and 

 inclined to be short rather than long; the breast broad, 

 round, and full; the shoulders broad; the back wide, slightly 

 curved outwardly; the tail should hang obtusely from the 

 body; the ends of the wings should rest upon the base of 

 the tail ; the legs should be somewhat short ; and the carriage 

 of the bird easy, graceful, and semi-erect. The cap, colour, 

 "crine" and spangling are the chief characteristics in birds of 

 this variety. 



STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE. The following is the standard, 

 100 points representing perfection: 



z 2 



