88 
Our  Canaries 
and  train  them  three  or  four  times  a  day  for  a  few  minutes  each  time  up  to 
the  date  of  the  show." 
The  method  of  Mr.  James  Robertson,  of  High  Harrington,  one  of  our 
oldest  and  most  successful  exhibitors  and  breeders  of  Belgians,  demands  even 
closer  application  and  more  manual  training.  His  remarks  are  worth  weighty- 
consideration.  "  A  matter  sometimes  takes  possession  of  me,"  he  says,  "  respect- 
ing the  breeding  of  birds  of  peculiar  shape  other  than  that  of  the  original  wild 
bird.  Does  not  nature  say  '  so  far  you  may  go  but  no  further,'  and  adopt 
means  to  bring  deformity  back  to  the  original  shape  if  allowed  natural  selection 
or  treatment  ?  High  class  specimens  mated  together  seldom  produce  any 
young,  so  I  am  rather  of  the  opinion  that  if  any  of  our  peculiar  shaped  birds 
were  allowed  natural  selection  and  surroundings,  not  being  trained  or  wrought 
with  in  any  way  to  induce  shape  or  position,  they  would  revert  back  to  the 
common  stock.  These  thoughts  cause  me  to  handle  the  young  Belgians  much, 
and  induce  them  to  put  themselves  as  much  as  possible  in  (to  my  mind)  an 
unnatural  position,  which,  when  once  acquired,  they  seldom  forget  ;  it  seems 
rather  to  grow  upon  them  like  any  bad  habit  in  the  human." 
A  HELPFUL  RUSE. 
With  its  closely  related  variety,  the  Scotch  Fancy,  Mr.  James  Little,  of 
Newcastle,  emulates  some  Yorkshire  breeders  in  turning  a  ruse  to  good  account. 
"  When  the  birds  are  fit  to  take  away  from  their  parents,"  he  writes,  "  I  put 
them  in  a  show  cage  for  three  weeks,  and  hang  them  high  up  so  that  when 
you  go  near  they  naturally  look  downwards,  and  they  want  handling  only 
when  you  are  feeding  them.  After  that  I  put  them  in  the  flight,  and  let  them 
stay  there  about  fourteen  weeks,  only  handling  them  about  once  a  week.  I 
think  they  thrive  better  in  the  flight  when  young,  and  by  the  end  of  the  time 
mentioned  you  will  see  if  you  have  any  that  are  likely  to  be  good  show  birds." 
An  analogous  method  to  this  is  that  of  some  Yorkshire  breeders  who  train  the 
birds  in  an  open  wire  show  cage,  and  place  a  spray  of  tempting  green  food  or  some 
other  tit-bit  on  the  top,  almost  over  the  perch,  to  induce  the  bird  to  spend  as  much 
of  its  time  as  possible  reaching  up  to  nibble  at  it,  and  at  the  same  time  pulling 
itself  up  into  a  good  typical,  racy,  and  upright  pose. 
A  WORD  ABOUT  THE  GREEN. 
There  exists  a  wide-spread  opinion  among  the  novices  in  exhibition  matters, 
that  the  green  varieties,  on  account  of  the  naturally  dark  hue  of  their  plumage 
do  not  require  the  usual  hand-washing  preparatory  to  being  shown,  as  is 
found  so  essential  in  all  light-feathered  varieties.  In  some  instances  this  may 
be  very  true,  as  when  one  enjoys  the  privilege  of  living  in  a  pure  atmosphere 
in  the  country,  when  the  air  is  not  loaded  with  smoke  and  grimy  smuts,  as  is 
too  often  the  case  with  fanciers  residing  in  large  towns.  But  the  experience 
of  Mr.  V.  H.  Deacon,  of  Liverpool,  as  given  in  the  following  notes  from  his 
