Canary 
Management. 
( 66 ) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
Canary Management. 
By WM. FAIRLIE. 
Having - decided to make the pleasing- and in¬ 
structive hobby, Canary breeding, your pastime, 
the first thing to do is to provide suitable cages 
to keep the birds in when purchased. There are 
a great many varieties of cages, both for singing 
and breeding. Where a bird is kept for singing 
purposes only, I should recommend a square 
cage, with the back, top and sides made of wood, 
the front part only being of wire. This kind of 
cage will be found the best for all ordinary pur¬ 
poses, as it protects the bird from a direct 
draught, a thing which must be jealously 
guarded against. 
How to Buy. 
In buying birds, the best plan is to go to a 
respectable dealer’s establishment, or to some 
well-known breeder; you are then sure to be 
well served, as these men have their reputation 
to keep up, and will always warrant what they 
sell. When ordering birds from a distance, to 
be sent by post or carriage, always have them on 
approval. Of course, the prices of birds vary 
according to- quality and breed, but I should 
strongly advise the beginner to buy the best his 
pocket will admit of, as it costs nfo more to keep 
good-quality birds than inferior ones; besides, 
it enhances your fame as a breeder of good stock, 
which is a qualification for the selling of your 
surplus birds. 
Signs of Health. t . 
In selecting a bird, always see that it is %i 
perfect health, lively in its movements and free 
from panting when breathing, and that there 
is no wheezing in the throat or chest; as it its a 
loss of time to attempt to breed with unhealthy 
birds, the result being, as a rule, unfertilised 
eggs or the hens becoming bad sitters or feeders. 
Should any birds be reared at all, as they get 
older they mostly become affected with the same 
diseases as their parents suffered from, which, if 
not eradicated, become hereditary. 
The Norwich Canary. 
The Norwich canary is what might be termed 
a chubby bird, although of late years they have 
slightly increased in size. In colour, it varies 
from a pale lemon to a very deep golden yellow, 
and is a sound-constitutioned bird, very lively 
and active, rather slender in build, but with a 
full neck and chest; it has a loud and melodious 
song. . The head should be broad and flat on top, 
the wings perfectly V-shaped and not over¬ 
lapping ; the feathers should be tight and com¬ 
pact and of a silky texture; in carriage it should 
stand semi-upright, and be lively and quick in 
action. Size, too, is a consideration, providing 
the bird retains all the true points of the Norwich 
and is not too coarse in feather. 
Method of Pairing. 
The general rule is to pair yellow with buff. 
It is quite immaterial which bird is the one 
colour and which the other, but all clear birds 
should have a perfectly clear underflue. The 
yellows produce the colour and silkiness of fea¬ 
ther, whilst the buffs add tightness and com¬ 
pactness. A cross with a good green now and 
again is very beneficial to the strain, and should 
always be resorted to, as the greens are the 
fountain-head of colour. 
Crested Norwich. 
There are two kinds of crests in the Norwich 
variety, the dark, and the grey or grizzle, the 
dark being most fancied and the most valued. 
The crested bird is rather full-bodied, with plenty 
of feather, and has a large and flat skull—a 
desideratum in this variety, as the bigger the 
skull the larger and fuller the crest will be. The 
saddle and back should be broad, and the feather 
tight and close, the body-colour being clear and 
bright. The Norwich crested birds are, how¬ 
ever, always inferior in colour to their confreres, 
the plain-head variety. 
Shape of the Crest. 
A good crest should have a well-defined centre, 
the feathers all lying perfectly flat and drooping 
gracefully over the beak, eyes, and down the 
hack of the neck, and without the slightest per¬ 
ceptible break. Crests vary in shape and size; 
there is the oval crest, the circular crest, and the 
shield crest. It is advisable now and again to 
cross with a Lancashire Coppy to produce size 
and feather. 
Points of Yorkshires. 
The head of the Yorkshire should be round, 
narrow, and of medium size, and the 1 eyebrows 
must not show the slightest tendency to over¬ 
hang ; the neck long and straight, with no inden¬ 
tation to be seen between the shoulders; in fact, 
from the top of the head, along the back to the 
tip of the tail, there should be a straight and 
unbroken line. The body should be long and 
slim in build, the feather compact, tight and fine 
in texture; the bird should be rather long and 
straight on its legs, and very lively and business¬ 
like. The Green Yorkshire is valued for the 
purity and brilliancy of its colour, and should be 
without any black feathers in the back; this 
makes a very good cross when colour is desired. 
The dark feathers in the tail should be very 
glossy, the colour of the body feathers a brilliant 
green and even all over, and birds of this colour 
should bear the same characteristics as the clear 
varieties. 
