Points of the Belgian Canary. 191 



The head of the Belgian is singularly neat, and is an evidence of careful breeding in one 

 direction. To a casual observer, the head of one Canary may appear pretty much like that 

 of another ; but the eye of the fancier at once detects a marked difference. It is smaller in the 

 Belgian, in proportion to the size of the bird, than in any other variety — the Scotch Fancy, which 

 is an offshoot from this tribe, only excepted — and is much flatter on the crown, causing the bird 

 to be what is known among fanciers as "snake-headed," The eye, too, is full of softness and 

 intelligence, possibly the result of long-cpntinued effort in the direction of taming or quieting 

 down and subduing native restlessness. There is nothing coarse or vulgar about the member, 

 but an air of patrician refinement extending even to the beak. The neck appears to be formed on 

 a telescopic plan, being capable of a remarkable degree of extension or elongation, of which we 

 shall speak when we put our bird into " position." At present we are supposing our bird to be at 

 rest, or standing "at ease," under no excitement whatever, at which time it is sufficient for our 

 present purpose to say, its attitude is erect, or nearly so — the body assuming nearly the same 

 posture as when " in position," but the head and neck an entirely different one. When " at ease," 

 the head projects from the body at as nearly as possible a right angle, the summit of the crown 

 and the tips of the shoulders being about on the same level, the upper line of the neck being 

 practically concave, though made up of a series of small convexed arcs. The upper line is that 

 which is generally referred to when speaking of length of neck in general terms, because the 

 underneath line has little more of length belonging to it than attaches to the throat, which speedily 

 joins the breast. We refer to this simply as an explanation of what is technically " neck," because 

 parallel lines drawn across the neck at the beginning and end of the throat would easily show how 

 much of the longer upper line really belonged to the outline or domain of shoulder, which extends 

 much further than that point indicated by the tips of the pinions. The shoulders themselves are 

 very high and prominent, and in a good specimen should be broad and massive, the pinions not 

 projecting through the scapular feathers or those at the upper part of the back and leaving 

 a vacancy between, but being well covered by them, thus destroying every appearance of 

 angularity by producing a rounded surface of considerable area, and further by filling in the space 

 between the shoulders to a level with the back, which itself should be long, all of which features 

 are considered strong points in the configuration of a Belgian. A line from the back of the 

 shoulder through to the breast will give the deepest transverse section. The breast itself should 

 be prominent, but not full or broad, and, following a profile line from the bottom of the throat, 

 may be observed to project in a very graceful curve. The wings are long, and cannot be carried 

 in too compact a form. Their apparent length frequently depends on the style in which the bird 

 stands ; but in a good specimen they will frequently reach to a point below the junction of the 

 feet with the legs, and consequently below the upper surface of the perch on which the bird may 

 be standing. Some birds, when in the least excited, have a habit of opening out the extremities of 

 the wings and showing the upper tail-coverts ; but this is a most undesirable exhibition. The body, 

 from the breast downwards, should gradually taper, the feathers of the vent and lower regions 

 merging in those of the under tail-coverts in a regular way. The tail is long and narrow, and 

 should appear like a continuation of the taper arrangement of the body, rather than of a fish-tail 

 form. The shape and arrangement of the tail-feathers necessitate the formation of a small fork at 

 the extremity, but the more compact the tail, the smaller will be this fork, and the nearer will the 

 tail approach to the standard which requires it to be piped as opposed to expanded. Thighs and 

 legs should be long and straight, the former well covered and hidden for the greater portion of their 

 length in the feathers of the body. Flexed knee-joints present an unsightly appearance as if 

 dislocated, and are to be avoided. It is almost needless to add that the feet and claws should be 



