CHAPTER VII 

 EXHIBITING 



The Art of Staging Winners. 



Exhibiting as we know it to-day is a fine art. Com- 

 petition in all varieties is keen — very keen — and far more 

 depends upon how a bird is staged than many seem to 

 think. The art of properly preparing birds for exhibition 

 is one that must be thoroughly learned before success 

 can be attained on the show bench. There is a right 

 and a wrong way of doing everything. Exhibiting 

 is a source of great anxiety and perplexity to the majority 

 of young fanciers. The novice invariably goes wrong, 

 to the great disadvantage of his birds and his own pros- 

 pects of success. Most novices fail in staging their birds 

 in a satisfactory manner, and often when judging and 

 reporting I have noted " dirty birds," " dirty cages," 

 " dirty perches," " cages badly painted," and " badly 

 washed birds." Many things can be forgiven when 

 ignorance can be honestly pleaded, but in the abundance of 

 hterature with which the cage-bird world is now flooded 

 it is almost impossible for an exhibitor to plead ignorance 

 of any of the details of aviary management. 



The birds having come through the moult safely and 

 in good trim, extreme care must be used to keep them in 

 perfect plumage throughout the show season, which 

 extends from October to February. If the birds have been 

 moulted in small cages, it wiU be best to keep them in 

 those cages during the show season. 



If kept singly, and all exhibition stock should be 

 thus kept, a cage 15 to 18 inches long, and about eleven 

 deep, will be quite large enough for each bird. These 

 cages should be made of wood, and the front of wire. 

 In these cages the birds will be kept clean and quiet. 



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