Canary Societies, and Close and Open Shows. 415 



a- commendable practice to travel all night, as it is very 

 likely to unfit a man for the proper performance of his duties. 

 As soon as you accept an appointment as judge at a show, 

 you should request the secretary to furnish you with a 

 schedule or programme of prizes and the regulations, which 

 you should read over attentively, and if there is anything 

 in it which you do not clearly comprehend, write at once for 

 an explanation. Before you proceed on your journey to the 

 town where the show is to take place, you should prepare 

 yourself with a small memorandum book, which you must 

 arrange in the same way as the schedule, that is, so far as 

 the classification is concerned. You should likewise write 

 the word " prize " on three separate and consecutive lines, 

 and also immediately below these the letters Y.H.C., leaving 

 two lines on which to enter the numbers, then H.C. and C., 

 acting in the same way. You then only require to fill in 

 first, second, and third prizes, and the numbers of the other 

 birds entitled to distinction, which saves much time. It is, 

 however, generally understood that the secretary of a show 

 will provide the judges with properly prepared judging books 

 and a lead pencil. The Field judging books are well adapted 

 for this purpose, and save much time and labour to the 

 judges and secretary alike, and are not expensive. This book 

 I always fill in from my own, and afterwards check it over 

 with the printed catalogue. I then certify it as being correct, 

 sign it, and then hand it to the secretary ; but the catalogue 

 I keep, and after I return home I compare it with my own 

 book; if I discover a discrepancy I write to the secretary to 

 rectify it without delay. You should likewise prepare your- 

 self with a good eyeglass a powerful magnifier and three 

 small phials, containing tests for stained birds, one of spirits 

 of wine, another of liquor of potass, and the third should 

 contain a good strong solution of common washing soda, or 

 a little well diluted hydrochloric acid, but unless the latter 

 is properly prepared it is dangerous to use; the fumes of 

 this acid will remove most dyes, but this, too, is a dangerous 

 process, and should not be practised by anyone who does 

 uot thoroughly understand how to use it. A pair of small 



