December 7, 1S71. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



457 



Goldfinch axd Canary. — AtiT/ other Class of Yelloio.—l and c, H. Ashton- 

 2, E. Lull am. 3, E. Stansfleld. he. J. Baxter. Any other Class of Buff— 1, 3- 

 and he. H. Ashton. 2, Enoch Sc Chater, Covpntry, c, E. Lulham. 



GoLDFiN-cn AND CANARY. DarJc.~l, he, and c, E. Stanafield. 2, Stephens 

 and Leek. 3, Cnx & HiUier. Northampton. 



LiN^NET AND Canarv.— 1, J. Spcnce. 2 and 3, Stephens & Leek 



Ant other Variety.— 1. E. Stansfield. 2 and c, H. Ashton (Bullflneli, Gold- 

 finch, and Linnet). 3, A.Webster, jnn.. Kirkstall, Leeds [Bullfinch and Gold- 

 finch), ho, T. Willsher (Siskin and Canary). 



BRITISH BIRDS. 



Goldfinch.— 1, S. Bunting, Derby. 2, F. Woodward, Litchnrch, Derby. 3, 

 Stephens & Leek. 



Linnets.— 1, A. Webster, jun. 2, Fairclough & Howe. Middlesbrongh. 3, J. 

 N. Harrison. 



Any 0THER Variety.— 1, A. Webster, jun. (Mountain Finch). 2 and 3, Col. 

 TickeU. Cheltenham (Starlings and Song Thrush), he, T. Willsher, Chichester 

 (Yellowhammer). 



FOREIGN BIRDS. 



Parrot.— 1, J. S. Harrison. 2. W. Walter. 3, Mrs. Drayton,' Cheltenham. 

 he. Col. TickeU, Cheltenham, c. G. Hodge. 



Cockatoo.— 1. W. Walter. 2, Col. TickeU. 



Parakeet.— 1, Mrs. Drayton. 2, H. Ashton. 3, Capt. Acklom. he, W. Walter. 

 c. Miss M. Baker. 



Ant other Variety.— 1 ajid 2, W. Walter (Pintail Wydah and Madagascar). 

 8, Sirs. Drayton. 



Extra Class.— 1, Mrs. Stephenson, Cheltenham. 2, S. Tomes (Black Gold 

 finch). 3, J. Baxter (Pied Lark). 



Sellii,-g Class.— 1, G. Gayton. 2, Moore & Wvnne. 3, G. & J. Mackley : W. 

 Walter. 



Judges. — Mr. W. A. Blakston, Sunderland, and Capt. Hawkins 

 Fisher, Stroud. 



KILMARNOCK ORNITHOLOGICAL 

 ASSOCIATION'S SHOW. 



[Fro7n a Correspo7ident.) 



Much interest was excited among local fanciers from the fact that 

 Mr. Teebay, the well-known English Judge, had been appointed Arbi- 

 trator. His decisions, after being severely scanned, were found, in the 

 main, to be in harmony with the received opinions of the North, and 

 gave general satisfaction. 



Spanish. — This was allowed to be the best class in the Show, and 

 judging from the time spent on it, Mr. Teebay must have found it nice 

 work to adjust the winning cards. The prize birds merited their posi- 

 tions. Pen 32 was considered by good judges deserving of notice. 



BraJimas — No fewer than nineteen entries, all Dark. Quality on the 

 whole very fair. Considerable diversity of opinion was expressed on 

 the winning pen, which was entered at £2 and immediately claimed. 

 The hen was of the close-pencil type, much inferior in marking to the 

 one which stood next her in honour. 



Cochins. — A very good class. Winners, large birds and fine in 

 colour. The unnoticed pens of Messrs; Paton and Campbell were 

 not in condition. 



Dorkings. — A very fair class. The Silver- Grey cock in the winning 

 pen beautiful in colour but very deficient in feet, while the second- 

 prize hen was as near an approach to- perfection as we have seen for 

 years. 



Scotch- Greys. — This bi-eed, though pre-eminently national, appears 

 to be falling off in quality and quantity. None deserve special notice 

 with the exception of the winning iiea, which contained a well-mixed 

 hen. 



Golden-spangled Hamhurghs. — Hens on the whole not up to the 

 mark. Both birds in the prize pen were tipped with white, and before 

 a Scotch judge would have run a narrow risk of being left out in the 

 cold. No. 89 contained a good cock badly mated, and No. 104 

 perhaps the best cock in the class. It is deserving of mention that 

 Mr. Jardine, a local breeder, has carried off the timepiece in this 

 class for three successive years, 



Siher-spangUd Hamhurghs, — Scarcely a bad pair shown. The hen 

 owned by Mr. Pickles, of Earby, was awarded the timepiece for the best 

 Eamhurghs in the Show, a decision acquiesced in by all. 



Silver and Gold-pencilled Hamhurghs. — Silvers were not numerous. 

 But this drawback was more than balanced by the Goldens. A 

 good deal of dressing of comb was observable, but the prize list 

 showed that Scotch Judges are rather straight-laced on this point. 

 Pen l-iT, containing a fine specimen of the *' tailor's art," was instantly 

 disqualified. 



Game. — A good class, containing some splendid birds. The judging 

 here gave eminent satisfaction. 



Game Bantams. — No less than fifty-one pens. As was to be expected, 

 many were indifferent and some positively bad. The timepiece cock 

 in this class was a superb bird, though a severe critic might have 

 objected to the colour of his saddle. 



BlacJc and White Bantams. — This class has shown a decided ten- 

 dency for the last few years to merge its characteristics into those of 

 the preceding class ; the conceited carriage and trailing wing being 

 conspicuous by their absence. The prize pens were good in other 

 respects. 



Bantams (Any other variety). — Sebrights, as usual, claimed the 

 honours. The lacing and ground colour of Mr. Robertson's Silvers 

 were simply unsurpassable. 



Duel's. — The Aylesbury, though a good class, were fairly eclipsed by 

 the BoueUy where the first, second, and third positions were barely 

 secured by a neck. 



Aiiy other variety. — This class proved very attractive to the visitors, 



the beautiful plumage of the Shells and Mandarins exciting universal 

 admiration. 



PIGEONS. 



The Pouter entries were not numerous, but of first-rate quality. 

 The timepiece fell to a Blue cock, which showed a fine proportion of 

 limb and feather. Pen No. 336 contained a stylish Mealy cock, 

 imperfectly mated. Carriers formed a good class. The first prize 

 went to a splendid pair of Duns, unfortunately not entered for the 

 timepiece. No. 405 contained a hen, the best bird in her class. The 

 young class showed a decided improvement on last year. The first 

 place was gained by Mr. Laurie with a promising pair of Blacks. 

 Short-faces formed a very fair class. Mr. Miller succeeded in carry- 

 ing off the timepiece with a pair remarkable for skull and beak. In 

 Barbs Mr. Yardley would undoubtedly have figured on the prize list, 

 had not his birds been disqualified as both cocks. Trumpeters were 

 the best ever shown in Kilmarnock. Mr. Kule'a hen will be found 

 hard to beat. Jacobin fanciers were delighted at the turn-out of their 

 favourite variety, which they had well-nigh despaired of. A capital 

 pair of Whites occupied No. 130. Much dissatisfaction was occasioned 

 by ^he hurried manner in which the Judges discharged the latter half 

 of their duty. The winning Oivls were exceedingly foul, and in the 

 other classes it was observable that a revision would have been more 

 satisfactory, if not to the Judges, at least to the majority of the 

 exhibitors. 



CANARIES. 



The Clean classes contained many good birds, bat the Piebalds were 

 very inferior in quality. The Buff cock in Class B was generally 

 allowed to be a much superior bird to the Yellow cock which carried 

 off the first honours. Mules., both Buff and Yellow, formed an extra 

 good class, in fact the winning Buff cock could scarcely be equalled. 

 On the whole, however, the Canary classes were not up to the standard 

 of some preceding years. 



[We published last week the list of the awards and the names of the 

 Judges. — Eds^.] 



NEW BOOK. 



Profitable and Ornamental Poultry. By H. Pipek. Groom- 

 bridge & Sons, LondoD, 1871. 



" Success," said somebody, who no doubt had himself been 

 successful, " ia the gauge of merit." That poultry have been 

 successful during the last twenty years ia undoubtedly true ; 

 the number of poultry shows and their vastness, as witness 

 especially the recent Show at the Crystal Palace, prove it. 

 Thus, the more in number the shows, and the greater the 

 number of birds entered, prove the larger the number of pos- 

 sessors of poultry. Now-a-days in all neighbourhoods yon find 

 poultry-fanciers — in some neighbourhoods many. There were 

 those who lamented the legal prohibition of cock-figbtiog, who 

 themselves never saw or would see a fight, but because they 

 thought that one \eTj beautiful class of birds would become 

 extinct. Yet what is the result? Instead of beautiful birds 

 being disfigured, and made to resemble the first efforts of a 

 Bchool-boy in drawing a bird, Game cocks appear by hundreds 

 in all their beauty of plumage at our shows. Gt^rtainly poultry 

 as a fancy, and as producing exquisitely-shaped and plumaged 

 birds, has been a wonderful success. 



Bat there is another evidence of its success — viz., the 

 number of books issued from the press as guides and instructors 

 in the art of rearing, keeping, and exhibiting. The contrast, too, 

 is very great between the poultry handbook or guide of twenty 

 years since and that of the present time. It ia quite certain 

 that publishers, the most canny of men (if you doubt me, try 

 them with a book which they think will not sell), would not go 

 on issuing year after year new and attractively got-up works 

 on fowls. The last new venture is the book at the head of this 

 article. The true word in criticising it is to describe it as 

 " pretty." The outside is " pretty," very pretty — blue and 

 gold, and good taste outside. Within, excellent paper, pretty 

 coloured plates, and clear pleasant reading type. As to the 

 matter, there is nothing new, and our own two principal 

 poultry writers, Messrs. Baily and L. Wright, are extensively 

 quoted, so there can be nothing for us to condemn. Many of 

 the coloured plates have the usual fault of the colours being 

 too bright, as particularly in the Kouen drake and the Duek- 

 winged Game cock, and they are on too email a scale to give 

 more than an idea of what pencilled feathers are, as shown in 

 the Gold-pencilled Hamburgh hen. The Golden and Silver- 

 spangled Polish are the gems of the plates, and very pretty 

 they are. The Black Polieh are too green, as also the Black- 

 breasted Bed Btntam cock. The Malay, ugly rascal as we all 

 know he ia, has scarcely jastice done him.. The picture of the 

 Turkey is again excellent. Some of the portraits are of birds 

 which would not take a prize; others, again, are just what we 

 wish to see in a pen. 



