Lizard canary basics, part 11: the spangled crown

Posted on 05/08/2016 by Huw Evans 3 Comments

In History part 14 I discussed the slow, but inevitable, recognition of broken capped and non capped Lizard canaries. Caps are defined by the extent of clear feathers, but in this edition of Lizard canary basics I want to focus on the dark feathers, the ones that were once deemed to detract from perfection.... Read More

History, part 14: clear cap, broken cap, non cap

Posted on 01/08/201602/08/2016 by Huw Evans Leave a comment

Clear cap, broken cap, non cap. They are the basis of the Lizard classification. We are so familiar with these designations that we take them for granted, but have you wondered why they are so uninspiring? ... Read More

Bird’s eye view: the canaries of Midway

Posted on 29/07/201629/07/2016 by Huw Evans 6 Comments

I had never heard of the Midway canaries until I read Rosemary Low’s article in Cage & Aviary Birds (1). Midway is an atoll comprising two small islands in the middle of the Pacific ocean, but is widely known thanks to the name it gave to one of the pivotal naval battles of the Second […]... Read More

Update

Posted on 17/06/2016 by Huw Evans Leave a comment

You may have noticed some changes in the menu bar at the head of the blog. I’ve created two new headings: Lizard Canary and History which contain duplicates of the posts from the original series. I hope this will make navigation easier for those who want to refer to these articles. There has also been some housekeeping under the Introduction heading because space […]... Read More

‘Edwardian Taxidermy Crested Canary’-fss

Bird’s Eye View: The London Folly canary

Posted on 10/06/2016 by Huw Evans 3 Comments

A fisherman saw something resting on the surface for three or four minutes before it did a surface roll underwater and disappeared. It was described as almost black in colour and close to a seal in size. What was this mysterious creature?... Read More

Practice: the egg

Posted on 03/06/2016 by Huw Evans Leave a comment

We all know what a canary egg looks like, don’t we? Pale blue with some reddish splodges. It may be a miracle of nature, but our real interest does not go much further than wondering whether it will deliver a chick into this world. This season has reminded me that eggs are not that simple.... Read More

History, part 11: Hervieux’s list

Posted on 31/05/2016 by Huw Evans 4 Comments

Nouveau traité des serins de Canaries: a small book, you can hold it comfortably in the palm of your hand; leather bound, but otherwise crudely printed; 327 pages (excluding the contents, preface and dedication); three illustrations, but sadly none of the birds themselves. Nothing special you might think, yet this book propelled the canary into […]... Read More

fine spangled sort

The London Fancy and the Lizard canary

General