February 23, 1871. J 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



153 



ceived the highest commendation, Mr. Broclrick being second and third 

 ■with his two entries, the whole being birds of great quality, rich colour, 

 and excellent feather. It may be that many, when looking at the 

 London Fancy Canary, are not aware of the peculiarity which attaches 

 to it, and the extreme difficulty in bringing it out in show condition ; 

 and it may be matter of surprise to some to Irnow that those deep 

 ■orange birds with their jetty black wings and tail are, when in their 

 , long clothes, not more comely than a hedge Sparrow, and it is not till 

 ftbey are short-coated that they change their sombre garments for that 

 rich jonquil dress which contrasts so strikingly with its black trimming. 

 This costume they wear for only cue year, for at the second moult, 

 ■when they, iu common with other birds, first change their wing and 

 tail feathers, the black is replaced by white, or at best by grizzly grey, 

 and the bird retires from the scene of his victories into the more sober 

 quiet of domestic life, spending the remainder of his days in his 

 homely suit, while his olive branches grow up about him clad in the 

 fashionable attire of his early manhood, only in their turn to undergo 

 the same remarkable metamorphosis. 



This tendency to change of colour is to some extent shared by the 

 Lizard ; and as it is with some a question whether a greyhound is a 

 deteriorated bulldog, or I'ice versa, so it is a moot point with many 

 ■whether a Lizard be a degenerate London Fancy, or a Fancy be a 

 degenerate Lizard. They have some points in common, and are occa- 

 sionally crossed, as is evidenced by entries in the " Any variety " class, 

 but not to the extent some suppose. Though a great admirer of 

 Fancies, I am not a breeder of them, and so can say little as the 

 Tesult of my own actual experience. I do not call a man who buys a 

 pair of Fancies and rears a nest or two a breeder proper. It is from 

 such men as Mr. Brodrick and Mr. AValler, who have made it a life 

 study that we must be content to learn ; and Mr. "Waller assured me 

 in a most interesting chat I had with him, that it is not a practice to 

 ■cross the Fancy and Lizard, that the deep black ■wings aod tail have 

 not been derived from the Lizard, but are native to the bird, and that 

 by judicious pairing London Fancies will continue to produce such 

 birds as were at the Palace without any foreign admixture whatever. 



Fifty-one Lizards were staged, Mr. Ashtou being first both in Gold 

 and Silver -spangled. The cup was awarded to No. 403, the Golden 

 bird, but I inclined in favour of No. -i'Zo, than which few finer Silver- 

 spangled Lizards have been seen. I say it modestly, having no wish 

 to rub anyone's hair the wrong way. The cup bird was certainly 

 beautifully spangled, well capped, though slightly defective in one eye, 

 and just a little uneven at the back, and very bright, and clearly 

 merited its position at the head of the class ; but the Silver-spangled 

 gem was well calculated to make one break the tentli comman.lment. 

 iVTr. Judd was a good second in the Golden class, with a finely-spangled 

 bird, though a little run on the flights, and Mr. T. W. W. Fairbrass, 

 of Canterbury, third with a strong lusty bird also slightly run. All 

 his birds showed that rich bronzy tinge so much desired by Lizard 

 tfanciers. I do not want to be taken to task for adopting the word 

 " bronzy " as conveying my idea of the shade of colour I refer to, but 

 I use it as opposed to that greenish tinge which is often present. 

 No. 897 (Fairbrass), a hen, was claimed at 505. I observed no com- 

 mendation attached to her, but I thought her a remarkable bird. Mr. 

 Tuckwood'fl birds also were of the right stamp, and altogether it was 

 an excellent class. In Silvers, Mackley's second pleased me much. 

 Not so No. 409, third prize, which though rich in colour was not 

 remarkably well mottled. Nos. 410 and 411, G. Harrison, were good, 

 and 422, Fairbrass, not mentioned, was a fancy of mine. I apprehend 

 that the defect in the front of the cap was a bar to its commendation. 

 To No. 424, Adams Sz Atheraiich. I find I have appent^ed the remark, 

 '* high colour, fine cap;" and to 425, Ashton, " in a cloud:" it was 

 very much run, and as compared with 422, not worth its diploma. 



There were only two prizes to each of the three classes of Cinna- 

 mons, numbering in all seventy entries, an inconsistency which I have 

 EO doubt will, with other defects, be remedied next year. Northamp- 

 ton as usual was strong, Mr. Irons taking first in Jonqnes, and Mr. 

 Tomes second with a bird which, I think, was beyond compare its 

 Siipeiior. i blame the awning for it. No. 430, Gayton, and 445, 

 Spence, were very even in colour, a great point in Cinnamons, for 

 with high colour comes an objectionable stripe, the presence of which 

 is an eyesore to the fancier. Mr. Waller showed three birds not to be 

 despised, which were soon claimed. No. 444, H. J. Ims, very highly 

 commended, was a mistake of the tents. Mr. Waller was first in 

 Buffs with a great bird, and Mr. W. Gamble second with an un- 

 mistakeably fine specimen, with Moore & Wynn and the other North- 

 ampton representatives close up. The tent was wrong again with 

 477. J. Hadland. 



The awards iu the Marked or Variegated Cinnamon class were made 

 on a plan altogether different from that adopted last year. The object 

 of this class, what is to be aimed at, should be more clearly defined ; 

 *' Marked or Variegated" is very vague. However, assuming it to 

 mean, when applied to Cinnamons, a bird having cinnamon markings, 

 the question is. Should the bird be judged for general style and quality 

 apart from the regularity of the markings ? or is exactness of marking 

 io be considered of as much value as iu an Evenly-marked Norwich? 

 Last year high-coloured, irregularly-broken birds scored the hishest 

 honours above others marked with great exactness. This year the 

 case was reversed ; exactness ruled to the subversion of colour and 

 quality if combined with irregularity. The fact is, the two classes are 

 as wide apart as the poles. The one is the result of crossing wiLh the 



Norwich to obtain colour with as little disposition to break as possible ; 

 the other is the result of careful crossing with Belgians, with especial 

 care to retain a disposition to break into regular markings. The type 

 of the one class is a bird of Norwich build, having a rich body colour, 

 ^Yith patches of cinnamon here and there ; the type of the other is a 

 long, slim, graceful bird, evenly marked on the wings and eyes, in 

 which colour has, to a great extent, been sacrificed for some approxi- 

 mation to a fixed character for shape and exactness of marking. Such 

 a specimen was No. 482, Bomrose Sc Orme, first prize, and were 

 such clearly understood that to be the recognised standard, many a 

 beautiful bird of that stamp would be sent from the north, where the 

 Cinnamon has for years been grafted on the Belgian to attain similar 

 results. No. 485 (H. Apted) may be accepted as a good example of 

 the Cinnamon Norwich, an intermediate step between the old Dun and 

 the modern school of bright Cinnamons so deservedly popular. 



The Any other variety class was not very interesting, but it con- 

 tained one or two good samples of the Manchester Coppy, with one of 

 which Mr. Ashton was first ; two good Marked Yorkshire, 500 {Stans- 

 field), second, and oUS, Hawman ; one solitary Glasgow Fancy, No. 510 

 (Baxter), third, a good representative of the graceful favourite of the 

 other side of the Tweed; and divers nondescripts, among which one 

 figured as a " Green Hybrid " (?), and four were described as " Buff 

 and Yellow" (?)•— W. A. Blakstox. 



IS THE KABBIT FANCY ON THE DECLINE? 



No ; but, on the contrary, steadily increasing every year. Jnst 

 refer to "our Journal" of December loth, 1870, and read the report 

 on the York Shows, from their first one in 1864 to that held in 1S70, 

 and it will be found that in the first-named year there were only fifty 

 entries of Kabbits, while in the last year the surprising number of 

 124 entries were made. Can anyone, with such an instance as this 

 before him, say the Babbit fancy is on the decline ? The York Show 

 is not the only case I could quote. 



Mr. Millington may continue his notes about the value and scarcity 

 of the Lops, but he will not thus better their position in the various 

 prize lists, much less by saying that the fancy kinds are so cheap and 

 so very plentiful ; on the contrary, he has materially aided me in my 

 endeavours to get the varieties better classed, and to the Lops he has 

 given rather a sore hit. For any committee to offer more prizes for a 

 scarce variety than for a plentiful variety would be out of all reason, 

 for committees generally ofi'er most to those which secure the most 

 entries. 



As to the club, I think it an excellent suggestion, and am ready to 

 do all I can to further the proposal. I would suggest that the sub- 

 scription be OS. instead of Is. annually, and that whenever a Rabbit 

 show is held, a member living nearest the show should have his ex- 

 penses paid to look after the members' Rabbits only, and see them fed 

 and properly repacked for home. — Jas. Boyle, jun., Blackhiirn. 



THE GREAT BUSTARD IN WILTSHIRE. 



A Great Bustakd has recently been killed on the old haunt 

 of that bird — Salisbury Plain. I notice that in some of your 

 contemporaries it is stated that no bird of this kind has been 

 seen in Wiltshire for fifty years. I am in a position to state 

 that this is incorrect. 



In January, 1856, a male Bustard was wounded by a shot 

 from one of Lord Ailesbury's keepers, and two days afterwards 

 was, strange to say, captured by a little boy of only seven years 

 old. It was subsequently purchased by my late neighbour, 

 Rev. G. T. Marsh, the Vicar of Sutton Benger, Wilts, in whose 

 valuable ornithological collection I have very frequently seen 

 it. At Mr. Marsh's death, in 1862, it became, I believe, the 

 property of his brother, Mr. Matthew Marsh, late M.P. for 

 Salisbury. 



The particulars of the capture of this Bustard are so singular 

 that I will relate them, as they may interest some of your 

 readers. The keeper shot at the bird whilst it was flying, not 

 knowing what bird it was, or ignorantly fancying, as it was such 

 a large bird, that it must be an eagle. The distance was great, 

 and as the bird flew on apparently unharmed the keeper thought 

 no more of it. A few days after a little farm boy aged seven 

 saw a large bird laid down and fluttering in a turnip field. 

 The lad, a brave little lad, caught it by one wing, and dragged 

 it (the bird was weak with hunger and loss of blood), across 

 the field for a quarter of a mile, and took it to a barn, where a 

 man broke its neck. The labourers in the barn had just come 

 in to dinner, and wanted to pluck and dress the bird for that 

 meal. However, the lad stalked ofl' with his property on bis 

 back, and sold it for one shilling. My friend Mr. Marsh was 

 glad to give twenty sovereigns for it a little time afterwards. 

 I have often looked at the bird with great interest, and wondered 

 how a little fellow dared to capture it, for it measured from 

 wing to wing more than 6 feet. 



I knew two other gentlemen who had seen Bustards in Wilt- 

 shire. The lat^ Kev. Robert Ashe, the Rector of Lai gley- 



