Judging Yorkshire Canaries. 



247 



box in the inside. For many reasons we prefer either of the latter arrangements, but chiefly 

 because hoppers add to the weight and are inconvenient to pack. Seed should never be 

 strewn on the cage-bottom for any Canary of erect stand, as the tail is apt to become frayed 

 and dirtied while the bird is feeding, and a scrupulously neat toilet is one of the necessaries 

 for success in the show-room. 



We conclude our notice of this Canary with Scales for judging the different forms. We 

 have framed them with extreme care, in the hope that they will materially assist in maintaining 

 a correct standard by which to measure a bird hitherto not so generally understood as some 

 which have passed under review. 



SCALES OF POINTS FOR JUDGINCx YORKSHIRE CANARIES. 

 CLEAR BIRDS. 



Points of Merit. 



Shape — Head : small and round ; skull : narrow... 

 Neck: moderately long ; straight 

 Shoulders : narrow, rounded, and well filled ... 

 Back: long, straight, and well filled ... ... 



Breast : round and smooth ; the body, long and 



gradually tapering to a neat waist 

 Legs : long, without being stilty ; thighs : well 



clothed ... 

 Wings : long, and evenly carried 

 Tail : long, straight, and closely folded 



Size — For length, with corresponding symmetrical 



proportions 

 Position and Carriage — Attitude: erect, with 



fearless carriage ; head, neck, back, and tail 



in a straight line 



Feather — Short, close, and tight 



Colour — From pale yellow to orange ; underflue 



white ; beak, legs, and feet clear 

 Condition — Health, cleanness, and sound feather 



Total 



dm 

 5 



im. 



5 





S 





5 





5 





5 





S 





5 





— 



40 





15 





20 





10 





5 





10 





100 





— 



Negative Properties. 



A Yorkshire Canary should not have a large, flat, coarse head, 

 nor any overhanging brow indicative of Plainhead extraction ; 

 neither should it have a short, thick neck, nor should the neck 

 project after the manner of a Belgian or appear to be set on in 

 any other way than in the line of the body. It should not have 

 broad, square shoulders, neither should the shoulders show the 

 slightest prominence or have any hollow between them. It 

 should not be short in the back or body, neither must the back 

 be hollow, nor curved in the direction of its length. It must not 

 show a prominent breast, nor have any frill or similar arrange- 

 ment of feathers thereon. It should not have short legs, neither 

 should they be rigid or stilty. It should not have short flights, 

 nor should the wings be carried in a slovenly way or cross each 

 other at the tips, neither should the tail be short or fan-shaped. 

 A good bird should neither be short and squatty, nor large and 

 bulky. It should not stand across the perch ; nor, in v/hatever 

 position it stands, should the line from the back of the head to 

 the tip of the tail be a curve. It should not have loose, fluffy 

 feather, nor should the colour, however pale, be undecided. A 

 clear bird should not have dark underflue, nor should beak, legs, 

 or feet be discoloured, nor should it be shown except in perfect 

 feather and scrapulously clean. 



We have again preferred to assign equal values to the various constituents of the 

 principal division, because each is so dependent on the other, and we can see no advantage 

 to be gained from a more elaborate valuation. We have also made no separate provision 

 for Yellow and Buff. Practically, the birds are in every respect, excepting colour, one and 

 the same, and the value we have given to colour will afford ample margin when dealing with 

 either form. 



When applied to Evenly-marked birds the scale will require some modification. It is not 

 that shape or position, or any other essential, is not as necessary in a Marked bird as in a 

 Clear one, but Marking being the principal feature, it absorbs the greater part of . the value, 

 leaving the remainder to be worked out on a fresh basis with another unit of measurement. 

 The following will, however, meet the requirements of the case : — 



