Gleanings on 
the Yorkshire. 
( 48 ) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
Gleanings on the Y orkshire. 
The Gentleman of the Canary Family. 
By T. C. CRAWHALL. 
I have called the Yorkshire the gentle¬ 
man of Canaries, and surely he deserves 
that title, for to see a real good York¬ 
shire showing himself off, drawing him¬ 
self up, bracing his wings, and moving 
his head from side to side, reminds us 
of those human beings who always dress 
to perfection, and are a pattern of neat¬ 
ness and trimness. Amongst all the 
members of the Canary family I know 
none that so takes the eye at first sight 
as the Yorkshire, unless it be the wee 
Border. 
The Prospect at Present. 
Before going on to consider how to 
breed a good Yorkshire, let us decide 
what a good Yorkshire is, and what is 
the standard by which it should be 
judged. It is generally admitted that 
the best Yorkshires at the present time 
are in the county of Yorkshire, and the 
exhibitors there are able to hold their 
own against all outsiders; but I hope, 
with the advent of the two new societies 
—the one in the South, and the other in 
the North—that before long there will 
be keen friendly rivalry as to who shall 
hold the palm for superiority. As you 
know there are in Yorkshire two societies 
who practically control the destinies of 
the Yorkshire Canary, viz., The York¬ 
shire Canary Club, and the Yorkshire 
Union. Under the protection of these 
two societies the Yorkshire has evolved 
from a large, ungainly bird, somewhat 
resembling a thin Lancashire, to the 
present standard, I will not say of per¬ 
fection, but approaching to perfection. 
These two societies have each adopted 
a standard by which Yorkshires should 
be judged. The standards and scales 
of points for judging are practically the 
same, the only difference I notice is in 
the question of length. The Union say 
the length shall not exceed 6^ in. The 
Yorkshire Canary Club merely state 
length 6% in. I here give you the scale 
of points for clear birds. 
Standard of Perfection. 
Shape.— Head, small and round, 
skull narrow, 5. 
Neck , moderately long, straight, 5. 
Shoulders , narrow, rounded, well 
filled, 5. 
Back, long, straight, well filled; 
wings , long, and evenly car¬ 
ried, 5. 
Breast, round and smooth, the body 
long and gradually tapering to 
a neat waist, 5. 
Legs, long, without being stilty; 
thighs well clothed, 5. 
Tail, long, straight, and closely 
folded, 5. 
Size. — Length, 6 ^ in., with corre¬ 
sponding symmetrical propor¬ 
tions, 10. 
Position. —Attitude erect, with 
fearless carriage; head, neck, 
back, and tail in straight 
line, 20. 
Feather. —Close, short and tight, 
compact body feather, and 
close carriage of tail and 
wings, 20. 
Colour. —Pure body colour; back, 
legs, and feet clear, 5. 
Condition.— Health, cleanliness, 
and sound feather, 10. 
Total, 100. 
By this you will notice that shape 
counts 35 points. This is divided into 
seven divisions of 5 points each—head, 
neck, shoulders, back and wings, breast 
and body, legs, tail. The next is 10 
points for size, 6^ in. long, with corre¬ 
sponding symmetrical proportions. Not 
a great many points for size, yet some 
judges will go in almost entirely for 
