Snelling & Southwick at 1954 National-FSS

Lizards at the National Exhibition during the 1950s

Posted on 19/03/202020/03/2020 by Huw Evans 8 Comments

No other show has played such an important part in the affairs of the Lizard Canary Association as the National Exhibition (1). Sponsored by Cage Birds magazine (as it was then known), it was the ‘National’ that gave the nascent LCA the opportunity to demonstrate to the world its determination to save the oldest breed […]... Read More

London Fancy show standard

Posted on 07/03/2020 by Huw Evans 3 Comments

Regular readers of this blog will be aware that the London Fancy canary passed the second of three tests at the World Show in Matosinhos, Portugal last month. If you didn’t know, you can read my report here. I don’t want to prejudge the outcome, but recognition of the London Fancy by COM would give […]... Read More

Lizard canary basics, part 17: Bottoms up!

Posted on 16/02/2020 by Huw Evans Leave a comment

Before you jump to conclusions, this article has nothing to do with drinking toasts (1), yet, when used in connection with the Lizard canary, it involves an action that is very similar. It means to take a bird in your hand and turn it upside-down so that the belly is uppermost. Some canary breeders do […]... Read More

Crested curiousities Taylor's auctions-FI

Crested curiousities Gloster corona (Brooks 1950)-FSS

Crested curiousties Crests (Wallace 1893)-FSS

Crested curiousities Crest (House 1923)-FSS

Crested curiosities

Posted on 07/02/202008/02/2020 by Huw Evans 4 Comments

What is it about the head of the canary that appeals so much to the eye? The two canary varieties that I wanted to keep as a teenager both had distinctive heads. One was the Lizard with its cap, the other was the Gloster and its crest. No one kept them locally, and I only […]... Read More

World Show 2020: the London Fancy

Posted on 02/02/202003/02/2020 by Huw Evans 10 Comments

I promised a progress report on the London Fancy. I will keep it brief.... Read More

World Show 2020: Lizard canaries

Posted on 29/01/202029/01/2020 by Huw Evans 4 Comments

This year’s World Show returned to Matosinhos (1) in Portugal. My primary purpose was to make the second presentation of the London Fancy, which I will report in a separate post, but I stayed on to visit the show on the opening Friday. As so often happens, I spent more time talking to people than […]... Read More

Hogarth Midnight Modern Convrsn The Met-FSS

Sing a song of sixpence

Posted on 29/12/2019 by Huw Evans 5 Comments

“Sing a song of sixpence a pocket full of rye, Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie. When the pie was opened the birds began to sing, Oh wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before the king?”... Read More

fine spangled sort

The London Fancy and the Lizard canary . . . for those who are very curious