supposed, a drawback, it adds greatly to its beauty, and is indicative of very high breeding and superior quality. The spangling should not be broken up or laced, but ought to appear perfectly distinct throughout, both in form and finish, and this is one of the greatest points of beauty and attraction in the Lizard canary. Over the body feathers there appears, in the golden-spangled Lizards, a sort of subdued golden shade or light, called by some fanciers the "crine," and in the silverspangled birds it is of a fine silvery-grey hue, and adds much to their beauty; some birds are quite destitute of this luminosity-a sure indication of coarse breeding or bad blood.

The legs, feet, and bills are considered by most fanciers to look best when dark, but, for my part, I attach very little importance to this feature, and I regard it only as a secondary consideration, as I have almost invariably noticed that such birds as possess it naturally (for in too many cases it is artificially produced) are too green in their ground colour-and the ground colour is a speciality which ought to be regarded as a sine quâ non in an exhibition bird. The two most beautiful and perfect specimens of this variety of bird I ever saw had red or flesh-coloured legs and feet; in all other respects they were the nearest approximation to perfection that could be imagined.

The Lizard canaries are from 44in. to 54in. in length upon an average. The head should be rather large than otherwise, with an abundance of width between the eyes, and flattish on the crown; the beak rather stout and short; the neck thick, and inclined to be short rather than long; the breast broad, round, and full; the shoulders broad; the back wide, slightly curved outwardly; the tail should hang obtusely from the body; the ends of the wings should rest upon the base of the tail; the legs should be somewhat short; and the carriage of the bird easy, graceful, and semi-erect. The cap, colour, "crine" and spangling are the chief characteristics in birds of this variety.

STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE.-The following is the standard, 100 points representing perfection:

The head must be full, broad, and flattish on the crown; the cap oval, clear, rich in colour, and well formed, and must not come below the eye; it ought to terminate in front at the top of the bill, and at the back at the base of the skull. The spangles must be clear, regular, and well defined. The colour must be rich, soft, and mellow, level throughout, and quite free from any decidedly green tinge.

TYPE.-The bird from which our illustration was taken was the property of Mr. T. W. Fairbrass, of Canterbury. It stood first in a class of fifteen at the Crystal Palace Show at Sydenham (1875), the majority of which had been successful competitors at other shows. He won with the most consummate ease, being vastly superior in all respects to any of his antagonists, and a thorough champion all over, his colour, cap, contour, and spangling being exquisitely grand, and almost perfect; the greatest fault observable was that he was rather too much striped down the sides of the abdomen. Mr. Fairbrass is probably one of the oldest and most extensive breeders of this greatly admired variety of canaries living, and a pretty successful exhibitor as well. Several prize winners in previous years have been bred from birds procured from his aviary by other fanciers. One of the most successful breeders and exhibitors of these birds is Mr. Robert Ritchie, of Darlington.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE LONDON FANCY.*

BREEDERS.-These birds are rare, handsome, and costly, and somewhat tender and delicate in their constitutions. They are great favourites with many of the London Fanciers, but owing to their want of stamina and vigour, combined with the exhorbitant prices that are demanded for good specimens, they are not very popular with the "fancy" at large. Indeed, this breed at the present time may be considered as being in the hands of a select few. Mr. W. Brodrick, of Chudleigh; Mr. James Waller, of London; and Mr. Thomas Clark, of Sutton, in Surrey, are probably the chief and most successful breeders extant.

ORIGIN. Although many of the admirers of this variety of canary regard them as a distinct breed, I am decidedly of opinion that they have originated from the Lizard canaries, and I know that a great number of thoroughly practical and experienced fanciers entertain the same idea as myself. Having propounded a theory, it is only right that I should give some reason for so doing. The title "London Fancy" implies that the breed is peculiar to, or originated in London, in the same manner as the "Norwich Fancy" doubtless had its origin in the town of Norwich, the "Scotch Fancy" in Scotland,

It is said that the London Fancy canary was first cultivated by the French Protestant refugee silk weavers, who came to London about two centuries ago, and that they were bred by them exclusively in Spitalfields for many years. I made every possible inquiry in my power on this point as to their origin, from Jas. Waller and others, some thirty-two or thirty-three years ago, but I was unable at that time to glean anything worthy of note respecting it.