134 CANARIES 



for Belgians, not to breed as Belgians, but to cross with 

 the Scots Fancies to secure nerve, drive and shoulder. 

 They took all these from the Belgian, and so like did 

 some of the Scots Fancies become to the Belgian that it 

 was a difficult matter sometimes to tell one from t'other 

 or t'other from which. The result of this craze was, that not 

 only was England denuded of its best Belgians, but the 

 Continent also. I know the time when Antwerp, Bruges, 

 Brussels, Courtrai, Ghent, Ostend and other cities of 

 Belgium all had flourishing canary societies and held 

 two or three exhibitions each year. Before the Great 

 War many of these had ceased to exist, and others only 

 lingered on. Then came the War, and that killed the 

 canary fancy in Belgium. Each time I have visited 

 Belgium since the War I have asked for Belgian canaries, 

 and the men who bred them, but none of any real value 

 have I found. The breed, however, is not quite dead. 

 I have seen a few, but they cannot compare with the birds 

 of old. I have heard some of our soldiers who were 

 in Belgium speak of having seen a number in the early 

 days of the War, and how they called them " Humpty- 

 Dumpties." But the breeding of Belgian canaries as a 

 fancy in the home of the breed is a thing of the past. 

 Should it ever revive it will have to be by the purchase 

 of imported stock. I have met a few Belgian canaries 

 in Holland in recent years, but not from these do I think 

 the Belgian Fancy will be revived. It will have to 

 come from the Scots Fancies that are too straight in 

 back. This is the only way in which the Belgian can come 

 again. The modern Scots Fancy was made from the 

 Belgian. The Belgian will now have to be re-made 

 from the Scots Fancy. The crossing of the Scot and 

 the Belgian undoubtedly killed the latter so far as this 

 country is concerned. 



A Breed that stood Alone. 



In the old days the Belgian was, undoubtedly, a breed 

 that stood alone. There was something about those 

 high-class Belgians that was totally different to the 

 champions of any other breed. The sleek, well-turned 

 head ; the long, graceful neck ; that tall, commanding 

 appearance ; those massive, shoulders and the straightness 



