Scale for Judging Belgians. 221 



proportion ; the harmony, the intangible something to which we have referred in our remarks 

 on previous scales ? We can only shrug our shoulders, elevate our eyebrows, spread out our 

 hands like the wings of a penguin or the " flappers " of a seal a la puzzled Flem, look sapient, 

 and set our face to the task, feeling very much the incubus of the Iww. 



SCALE OF POINTS FOR JUDGING BELGIAN CANARIES. 



Points of Merit. 



SHAPE. Maximum. 



Head — Small, neat and flat on the crown ... 3 



Neck — Long and slender, and capable of extension 10 

 Shoulders— High, broad, massive, well filled-in 

 between the pinions, and presenting a con- 

 siderable area between the base of the neck 

 and the summit, which should be well rounded 10 

 Back — Long, straight, and well filled ... ... 5 



Brkast — Prominent and deep through from thebacli 



to the front of the chest ... .. ... 5 



Body — Long, tapering gradually and evenly toH-ards 

 the waist from a base-Hne drawn diagonally 

 through the body from the breast to the back 

 to a point between the shoulders ... ... 5 



Wings — Long, compact, and carried close to the 



body, with the tips meeting evenly ... ... 5 



Tail — Long, narrow, close, and only slightly forked 3 



Legs — Long and straight, with the thighs well covered 5 



Feather — Close and compact, so as not to disturb 



the outline of the body. Upper and lower 



tail-coverts dense and compact, forming the 



vertex of an isosceles triangle of which the 



sectional diagonal line is the base 3 



Size 4 



Colour — For purity rather than depth ... ... 2 



— 60 



POSITION. 



Attitude — Erect stand, with quiet, easy pose. The 

 line of the back and tail as nearly plumb as 

 possible ... ... ... ... ... ... 6 



Legs — Straight and rigid ... ... ... ... 4 



Shoulders -Elevated 



Head — Depressed 



Neck— Length of reach and arching 



Negative Properties. 

 shape. 

 A Belgian should not have a large, coarse head, nor a short, 

 thick, straight neck, nor narrow shoulders with the points of the 

 pinions raised so as to cause a cavity between them ; nor should 

 the point of deflection formed by the meeting of the lines of the 

 neck and back be sharp or angular. Nor should the line of 

 the back be round, nor should it be hollow or have any sign 

 of a " spout " formed by a continuation of a hollow between the 

 shoulders. Neither should it have a broad, full breast, nor 

 should the body generally be short or chubby. It should not 

 droop its wings, neither should it cross them at the tips. The 

 tail should not be thick or fan-shaped, nor deeply forked. It 

 should not have short legs. The body-feathers should not be 

 open or rough to a degree which interferes with the general 

 neatness of the bird, and it should not be diminutive in size. 



position. 

 A Belgian should not stand with the line of the back and tail 

 foi-ming other than a right angle with the plane of the perch, 

 neither should the line be curved ; nor should it be restless and 

 unsteady. It should not stand with its knee-joints projecting 

 forwards till thighs and legs are thrown into a curve, neither 

 should it be cow-hocked or inclined to squat, nor should it refuse 

 to rise to its full height. It should not refuse to elevate its 

 shoulders, nor to depress its head, nor to reach out and arch 

 its neck ; nor should it be sluggish or manifest any want of 

 nervous energy in any of its position movements. 



The practical application of these scales may require a little explanation, since, on the 

 first glance, it may appear difficult to reconcile the ratio which some of the foregoing assess- 

 ments bear to" each other and to the total. But we think this difficulty will vanish when it is 

 seen that we have, practically, divided the bird into two parts, each ma.Kimum being calculated 

 on the ratio it bears to the total in its section. Though these two parts are intimately interwoven 

 with each other, we, at the same time, regard the latter as a consequence of the former ; and 

 inasmuch as the perfection of position may be assumed to result from the most symmetrical 

 disposition of the elements of form, we have given such a balance of points to the latter as 

 wc think would represent it in a degree from which the best position results might reasonably 

 be expected. Though the ratio between shape and position, as the scales now stand, may be 

 represented by i| : i, which may appear to seme critics to be giving undue preference to 



