Our  Canaries  285 
birds  as  soon  as  possible.  As  soon  as  they  leave  the  nest  it  is  safest  to  remove  into 
cages  out  of  reach  in  case  of  plucking,  and  let  the  parents  start  another  nest  while 
finishing  off  the  first  lot.  As  soon  as  they  can  feed  themselves  cage  the  birds  with 
good  wings  and  tails  separately,  the  others  go  into  the  flight,  so  that  some  of  them 
get  six  months  in  it. 
"  I  have  crossed  with  the  Lizard  and  find  that  it  takes  years  to  breed  out  the 
spangles  owing  to  the  dark  blood  being  so  persistent.  I  have  had  birds  that  have 
been  bred  pure  for  the  last  fifteen  years  throw  as  dark  as  a  Lizard.  I  have  also 
crossed  London  Fancy  with  Clear  Norwich  in  1905  and  paired  the  young  back  to 
London  Fancy  in  1906,  the  result  being  some  fit  for  exhibition.  In  1896  London 
Fancy  paired  to  Lizard;  in  1897  the  young  paired  back  to  London  Fancy,  and 
resulting  young  paired  again  in  1898  to  pure  London  Fancy,  gave  me  in  1899  a 
gem  which  proved  a  most  successful  show  bird.  I  very  seldom,  if  ever,  have  any 
trouble  with  them.  They  are  very  good  parents,  attending  well  to  their  duties. 
The  only  thing  one  has  to  be  careful  about  is  plucking  their  young." 
STANDARD    OF    POINTS    FOR  JUDGING. 
Appended  we  give  a  standard  of  perfection  for  the  guidance  of  breeders  of  the 
London  Fancy  Canar)^ 
THE    LONDON    FANCY.  Points. 
Colour  :    For  richness  and  depth  of  Yellow                                          ....  5 
Clearness :    Clear  throughout  the  body  of  the  bird                      ....       ..  20 
Cap :    Clear  and  broad    ....       ....       ....       ....       ....       ....       ....       ....  5 
Wings  and  Tail  :    For  depth  of  black  home  to  the  quill ;  containing  not 
less  than  18  flight  feathers  in  each  wing  and  12  in  the  tail   30 
Pinions  and  Wing  Coverts:    For  blackness    15 
Flue:    For  blackness       ....       ....       ....       ....       ....       ....       ....       ....  5 
Size:    For  largeness  in  conjunction  with  type         ....       ....       ....       ....  5 
Legs,   Nails,    and   Beak :    (Two  birds  meeting  of  otherwise  equal  merit 
preference  to  be  given  to  dark  legs,  nails  and  beak)       ....     .  ....  5 
Condition    10 
100 
If  jonque  and  mealy  be  equal  preference  to  be  given  to  the  jonque. 
Negative  Points  :  No  bird  shall  be  considered  a  fair  show  specimen  that 
has  a  feather  without  black  in  mid-rib  or  web  in  flights  or  tail ;  entire  white 
feathers  in  wings  or  tail ;  entire  white  feathers  in  wing  coverts  or  pinions  ;  defici- 
ency of  wing  or  tail  feathers  ;  crippled  claws,  twisted  nails,  or  malformed  beak  ; 
cap  broken  ;  or  wings  crossed  at  tips. 
