2 26 Ca-vaiues a.vd Cage-Birds. 



and it was this to which we referred in our observations on the geographical distribution of 

 this Canary. Tlie difficulty, however, finds a ready solution in the fact that, of late years, there 

 has been a marked advance in the direction of length, now a sine qua non, and this has been 

 obtained in many instances by the direct infusion of .Belgian blood, which, it will be plain, 

 must at the same time have caused some departure from the smooth, unbroken curve, with which 

 Belgian shoulder and neck appear incompatible, a decided break, arising from prominence of 

 shoulder, showing from whence the increased length has been derived. Despite this, the 

 shorter-bodied, shorter-necked, and, consequently, smaller birds have had to. give way to the 

 more commanding specimens in which shoulder is really a valuable feature, so long as no undue 

 projection causes a break, or any depression of the neck does not destroy the general direction 

 of the curve considered as a whole. At the same time, it would be idle to deny that we have seen 

 birds, aye, standing on the tables in Glasgow and contesting every inch of ground for a place in 

 the prize-list, in which the junction of the neck with the back was decidedly more angular than 

 curvilinear ; but whatever the character of the curve at the point of junction, the broad back 

 and massive shoulder of the Belgian must give way to a well-rounded contour and narrow 

 shoulder. Breeding out any objectionable type of shoulder may safely be left in the 

 hands of the men who have already done so much, and who, in determining to press this 

 development of shape to its extreme limit, have not so resolved without first weighing over the 

 difficulties and assuring themselves that the maximum of length can be obtained at the same 

 time that a clean unbroken sweep is maintained. It must not be understood that we wish 

 to imply that this increased length has in all cases been obtained direct from the Belgian. 

 The Scotch Fancy is as fixed in its characteristic traits as is any other Canary, and judicious 

 selection and pairing have alone accomplished these results with birds which we have been 

 assured were not assisted in any other way — a statement the accuracy of which we have not 

 the slightest occasion to doubt. 



Passing now to the body, we remark that the back, it is obvious, should be long and 

 convexed. The importance of this, it would be superfluous to comment on. The wings should 

 be long, and carried close to the body, exposing plenty of side, which assists materially in defining 

 the contour of the bird. Nothing can compensate for slovenly carriage of wings; it simply 

 destroys the entire fabric. Continuing our outer line — for we shall have to speak of the breast 

 and under portions of the body in referring to the concave sweep of the crescent — we note 

 that, precisely as in the Belgian, the tail, taken in connection with the upper and lower coverts 

 and vent-feathers generally, which play an important part in assisting to form the natural 

 curves of the bird, has the character of a continuation of the body rather than an appendage, 

 and is a most important member of the whole. To begin with, it must be long and compact, 

 proportionably broad at the base and tapering, anything like a fish-tail or an open fan being out 

 of character. It must not be tucked under the perch as though the bird were in a fright, but 

 curved gracefully in the same arc as the line of the body, which, if the bird be of true pro- 

 portions, will bring it up to the perch and keep it there without the semblance of an efibrt. This 

 alone, to an eye which can grasp the bird, will often show at a glance the difference between 

 the perfect bird and a half-made-up specimen. The one seems all in one piece ; the other as 

 if made in sections, with a tail moving on a hinge : the one is elegance, and the other 

 something else not half so attractive. 



Commencing now with the under surface, we note that a line from the throat to the 

 breast, thence to the vent and on to the end of the tail, will form the concave arc of the 

 crescent, of which that portion passing over the breast is the most important. It will be 



