Our  Canaries 
235 
"About  the  21st  day  I  take  the  young  birds  away  from  the  feeders  and  set 
the  hen  again.  I  also  take  out  the  cock  and  place  him  with  the  young  in  a  cage 
by  themselves,  and  he  will  continue  to  feed  them  until  the  young  birds  can  do  for 
themselves.  When  the  hen  is  ready  to  hatch  I  put  the  cock  back  with  her,  and  he 
assists  her  to  feed  the  second  nest  of  young.  I  never  lost  a  young  Belgian  after 
it  came  to  the  spar.    With  this  method  I  have  been  very  successful." 
ITS  HARDIHOOD  AND  INTELLIGENCE. 
Writing  on  these  points  Mr.  Fairley  gives  convincing  proof  of  the  hardihood 
of  the  breed.  "  My  birds  are  kept,"  he  continued,  "  in  a  cold  room  next  to  the 
slates,  with  the  joists  only  covered  with  canvas 
and  whitewashed  with  lime,  and  a  skylight  in  the 
roof  24in.  by  i6in.  My  room  is  i6ft.  by  gft.  by  6ft. 
high.  This  is  all  the  height  I  could  get.  I  had 
a  nest  of  four  birds  hatched  out  when  my  room 
was  standing  at  32°,  and  I  got  them  all  safely 
reared.  I  bred  15  young  Belgians  in  1908,  and 
won  the  U.K.B.C.A.  Graeme  Memorial  Shield, 
and  the  Reddihough  Cup  and  Gold  Medal,  and 
I  have  won  the  cup  right  out,  so  you  will  see  that, 
although  quite  hardy,  they  are  high-class  birds. 
They  will  not  stand  alternating  heat  and  cold,  but 
if  they  are  kept  in  a  cold  room,  you  will  have  no 
trouble  with  them— that  is,  if  you  get  a  good  pure 
stock  to  start  with.     Purity  is  my  ambition,  and 
it  is  not  very  easily  obtained.  But  it  can  be  got,  even  if  it  costs  a  little  more  to 
do  so  than  to  get  so-called  Belgian  birds  which  have  very  little  Belgian  blood  in 
them. 
FOND  OF  "SHOWING  OFF." 
"  Whenever  the  Belgian  sees  his  show  cage  put  before  him  he  will  hop  into  it,  up  on 
to  the  spar,  and  soon  show  you  what  he  can  do.  He  will  commence  raising  his 
shoulders,  and  put  his  head  down,  and,  taking  a  firm  grip  of  the  spar,  will  rise  higher 
and  higher,  and  show  you  his  nice  long  back  and  tail,  which  should  be  perpendicular, 
and  legs  straight,  not  bent  over,  with  nice  long  tapered  neck  and  small  head.  When 
in  position  the  neck  appears  a  little  arched,  with  a  movement,  or  nerve,  so  to  speak. 
He  is  a  very  intelligent  bird  and  easily  kept.  They  are  the  hardiest  birds  I  keep, 
and  I  have  Scotch  Fancies  and  the  Norwich,  Crest,  and  Crest-bred,  and  I  have 
less  trouble  with  my  Belgians  than  any  of  the  rest  of  my  birds." 
THE  STANDARD  OF  PERFECTION. 
We  give  on  the  following  page  the  standard  of  points  for  the  Belgian 
Canary  adopted  by  the  United  Kingdom  Belgian  Canary  Association. 
Show- Cage  for  Belgian 
Canaries. 
