156 CANARIES 



behind the Clears and Ticks so far as type was concerned 

 For some years past they have been equal to the Clears, 

 and judged on breed characteristics only have often 

 defeated the Clears for some of the most valuable trophies 

 in the fancy. 



Common Faults. 



The perfect bird, no more than the perfect man, has 

 not yet been bred, therefore every bird that appears on 

 the bench has some failing. One occasionally does hear 

 it said of a particularly fine exhibit : " You cannot 

 fault it." I have heard judges say this, and then known 

 them on another day to find a bird which they considered 

 just a bit better, and so they pegged back the bird of 

 which they had previously said : " You cannot fault it." 

 In speaking of common faults, I mean those that may be 

 seen in birds on the show bench. 



Many a good bird is spoilt by a heavy beak. Often 

 have I seen judges puzzled to say what it was that made 

 them hesitate over a bird. There was something about 

 the bird that spoilt the general finish. It has been a 

 heavy beak. The most common of all faults is flatness 

 of head. Hundreds of otherwise excellent birds are 

 pegged back year after year for this fault, and rightly so. 

 The head of the Yorkshire should rise from the back and 

 fall away from the back skull into the neck. Viewed in 

 profile the head should be oval. " Hollow in neck " 

 has been the fatal verdict on many an otherwise grand 

 bird. The worst of it is that the birds which have this 

 failing are generally those that excel in style and nerve. 

 Faulty wing carriage — in some cases a slackness in the 

 flights which causes them to gape, or fall apart, in others 

 a crossing of the flights. The last faiUng is most often 

 seen in birds which are flat-sided. Thick and open tails 

 are the cause of much vexation. Pointed chests and 

 flat sides generally go together and frills often accom- 

 pany them. Then there are birds that are stout in waist 

 and some that are too heavily feathered about the waist 

 and thighs. Shortness of leg and bare thighs are two 

 bad faults, never seen in one bird but in birds of totally 

 opposite character. The former in birds that lack 

 something in style, the latter in those long raky styhsh 



