The Yorkshire Canary. 239 



Crested and Plainhead, in some respects resembling each other, and in others very dissimilar ; and 

 while one set of breeders adopted the one form and cultivated it to an astonishing extent, a second 

 with equal care followed up the other channel and, toning down every asperity, accomplished 

 the object sought : in the one case the majestic Coppy and Plainhead proper resulted, and in 

 the other the refined Yorkshire. 



Before proceeding to give a detailed description of the bird, we may state in brief its 

 place in the " Shape " section of the family by comparing it with the Canary we have just 

 dismissed. It is to the Scotch Fancy just what the Scotch bird is to the Belgian. We defined 

 the former to be a curvihnear edition of the latter, and we cannot give a better general idea of 

 the Yorkshire bird than by describing it as a rigidly straight version of the Scotch ideal — the 

 crescent-shaped, nervous bird being replaced by a smart, bold, defiant, upstanding bird, in 

 which the sweeping curves of the former are represented as far as possible by straight lines, 

 taking the expression to refer to their general direction. Shape is its essence. The head should 

 be round, of medium size, and narrow in the skull, without the least suspicion of any of the 

 overhanging eyebrow observable in the Lancashire Plainhead, or indeed in Plainheads of any 

 variety bred for crest. This is one of the most important points, a sour expression, even, not 

 to mention a more serious departure from the neat head imperatively demanded, telling seriously 

 against a bird's reputation. The neck should be long and straight, and not of the short apoplectic 

 model, swelling gradually till it reaches the junction with the shoulders, which must on no 

 account show any prominence whatever, but be covered regularly and evenly by the scapulars — 

 a feature it is not easy to obtain in birds of the erect school, where prominence of shoulder 

 exists as a characteristic trait. Between the neck and the shoulders there must be not the 

 slightest indentation or break of any kind beyond the natural subtle curves of the leading 

 lines. From these beautifully rounded, well-fiUed-in, narrow shoulders depend long, taper 

 wings, the long flights tucked in closely and stowed away, tip to tip, at the end of a long, 

 narrow back, in which the shadow of a suspicion of a spout would be a fault beyond redemption. 

 A well-filled-in back is a natural consequence of level shoulders, and any hollow or spout 

 becomes an impossibility, the presence of such a defect indicating faulty construction in the 

 shoulder. Continuing the line of the back, the tail must be long, perfectly straight, narrow, 

 flat, and shut up so closely as only to show the mere edge of the outer feathers, and requiring 

 to be opened like a fan before it can be ascertained whether there be any pattern painted on 

 it in the way of dark feathers. If the back of the bird we have been modelling be now tried 

 with a straight-edge before going further, it should show nothing requiring chiselling away, but 

 from the back of the head to the tip of the tail should present, practically, a straight line, 

 which is the line of beauty in a Yorkshire. 



Following our usual line of construction, we go to the under surface, and observe that the 

 breast must be narrow and perfectly round, which, taken in conjunction with the narrow shoulders, 

 means small girth, another important point. Broad shoulders mean broad back and large girth, 

 which detract from the apparent length of the bird by throwing it out of drawing. A bulky 

 Yorkshire bird u.sually has near relations somewhere in Lancashire. From the breast downwards 

 the bird must taper away gradually till it ends in a fine waist, where there must be no loose or 

 fluffy feather, neither must there be on the breast any trace of a frill, the entire feather throughout 

 being of the closest and most compact description possible, in which respect we think no Canary 

 can compare with a first-class Yorkshire, of which we have seen specimens so exquisitely fine in 

 feather that the old simile, " like waxwork," is no inapt illustration. The legs must be straight 

 and long without being stilty, and should support the bird in an attitude as nearly erect as possible. 



