THE " MANCHESTER COPPY." 



45 



and the tail-feathers ; the lower body, and the upper and 

 lower tail covers are whitish-green, merging into a brown- 

 ish yellow in the whole shading of the body. Such a 

 " Lizard " canary presents a dainty appearance, and, in my 

 opinion, it is precisely when brought face to face with such 

 a specimen that the expert in colour-breeding celebrates his 

 greatest triumph. It requires extraordinary perseverance 

 to obtain fine, evenly-marked " Lizard " canaries by means of 

 "thorough" breeding. We distinguished the "Golden- 

 spangled Lizard," in a fine, dark-yellow shade, and the 

 " Silver-spangled Lizard/' whose plumage has a ground-tone 

 of whitish yellow ; the prices generally are, 30s. per head, 

 and 50s. per pair. 



The " Manchester Coppy," when in a state of the 

 highest development, is about double the size of a " Hartz " 

 male ; it reaches a length of 8 inches, and exists only in a 

 clear or dark yellow colour, the wings and the points of the 

 tail being of a pure white ; it is either smooth-headed or 

 crested, but its crest is not nearly as large or descending as 

 far over the eyes, as is the case with the Norwich birds ; in 

 fact, it extends over the forehead and the pericranium only, 

 leaving the back part of the head entirely free ; as a matter 

 of course, .it should be even and neat. The body is slender 

 and stretched, the legs are long, and the tail is likewise of 

 surprising length ; the whole plumage lies rather smoothly, 

 and none of the feathers are curled. According to the 

 views of English fanciers, a perfect "Manchester Coppy " has a 

 value entirely out of proportion to that of all other canaries ; 

 the bird sent to the exhibition by Mr. Wiener, which, it is 

 true, had already gained prizes at nine exhibitions, was 

 noted at £10 12s.; the others varied between £3 15s. to £4 

 for the male, and from 30s. to 45s. for the female bird. 

 This is the description of the most prominent English 

 canaries ; it is true that there are various other breeds. 



