150 CANARIES 



matter how good a bird may be in other respects if it 

 cannot bring its tail down nice and easy under the perch 

 all its other good properties are heavily discounted. 

 Therefore hens selected for breeding should have free 

 tail action. 



Scots Fancies as Breeders. 



Scots Fancies are usually hardy, vigorous birds ; they 

 go to nest without much trouble ; the hens sit well and are 

 generally good mothers. Many breeders never use 

 feeders, leaving the Scots Fancies to bring up their 

 own young. 



On the other hand, there are those who say they would 

 never trust a Scots Fancy hen to bring up valuable young- 

 sters. These men say that a good stock of reUable 

 " feeders " is a necessary adjunct to the room of all who 

 go in for breeding this variety on a large scale. 



Another point to which attention should be given 

 is the nest. The ordinary earthenware nest-pans are of 

 no use to the Scots Fancy. The nests that are used by 

 the Scotch breeders are large leathern cups, hned with 

 flannel ; these cups are just about half as deep again as 

 the ordinary nest pan. The reason why these deep nests 

 are used is that young Scots Fancies seem to be all legs 

 and neck when in the nest, and when stretching up to 

 be fed reach above the level of their parents' bodies ; 

 thus the old birds are unable to pump the food up in an 

 effectual manner, and the result is that many a promising 

 nest is doomed to gradual starvation. " Prevention 

 is better than cure," so I would impress on all my readers 

 the necessity of using deep nests when breeding Scots 

 Fancies. 



Training for Show. 



Action and style being of much value on the show 

 bench it is imperative that the birds go through a course 

 of training at an early age. If their training is left until 

 after the moult they are apt to get into bad, slovenly habits. 

 Therefore their education should begin when they are 

 seven or eight weeks old. They should be run out of 

 the flight cage into an ordinary show cage and taught 



