Mission accomplished: the London Fancy recognised by COM

Posted on 10/12/202214/12/2022 by Huw Evans 15 Comments

I imagine most of my readers will have heard the news that London Fancy canary passed the final examination at the Gouden Ring show last week. The breed has been formally recognised by COM.... Read More

The famous blue and black cages

Posted on 15/02/2022 by Huw Evans 4 Comments

“Having paid my entrance fee I found myself in a very large and well lighted show hall and the sight that met my eyes was one to make my heart miss a beat – rows upon rows of the famous blue and black Lizard show cages!” F.W. Snelling, The Lizard Canary Fancy, March 1956... Read More

PPaillou farmyard scene Burghley House-FSS

PPaillou North Prospect of London taken from the Bowling Green at Islington. John Bowles 1752-FSS

The Nuremberg Lizard, a supplement

Posted on 20/04/202120/04/2021 by Huw Evans 1 Comment

It may be a coincidence, but the last two major discoveries concerning the history of the London Fancy and the Lizard canary have been made by European enthusiasts: Hein van Grouw (Netherlands) and Didier Mervilde (Belgium) in the case of the 1850 London Fancy, and Michael Monthofer (Germany) in the case of the Nuremberg Lizard. […]... Read More

Nuremberg Lizard 1895 JNaden @ Tring-FSS

Nuremberg Lizard Musei Wormiani Historia (Wellcome)-FSS

Nuremberg Lizard music for Queen Caroline-FSS

Nuremberg Lizard Markgrafenschloss Ansbach wiki Martin Geisler

The Nuremberg Lizard, part 3

Posted on 12/04/2021 by Huw Evans 3 Comments

Up to now I’ve looked at Johann Daniel Meyer’s engraving of the Zweyerley Vorstellung des Canarienvogels (Presentation of a pair of canary birds) with a sceptical eye. In Part 3 I am going to look at the evidence that might support Michael Monthofer’s belief that the engraving represents a canary “which one can confidently call […]... Read More

saffron finch-dario sanchez (finchinfo.com)-FSS

Nuremberg Lizard light & dark spanglebacks-FSS

The Nuremberg Lizard, part 2

Posted on 05/04/202105/04/2021 by Huw Evans 1 Comment

Michael Monthofer’s discovery of Johann Daniel Meye’s engraving entitled Zweyerley Vorstellung des Canarienvogels (Presentation of a pair of canary birds) is a very exciting development. After careful study Michael came to the conclusion that the bird on the right represents a canary “den man getrost als Lizard oder zumindest als sehr lizard- ähnlich bezeichnen kann” […]... Read More

Nuremberg Lizard Jalapa officinarium-FSS

Nuremberg Lizard Nuremberg ca 1770 RareMapsandBooks

The Nuremberg Lizard, part 1

Posted on 29/03/2021 by Huw Evans 2 Comments

Never heard of Johann Daniel Meyer? Neither had I until Michael Monthofer got in touch with me (1). He had “found a print showing canary birds from 1748” and had written “a little article” about it (2). He offered to send me a copy; you can guess my answer. A PDF duly arrived and […]... Read More

A London Fancy canary circa 1850

Posted on 03/09/2020 by Huw Evans 9 Comments

Wonderful news. A specimen of a London Fancy canary dated to circa 1850 has come to light; the holy grail for canary historians. We can thank Hein van Grouw for the discovery; he seems to have made a speciality of investigating birds that became extinct. (1) Hein’s photograph of the bird was first published […]... Read More

fine spangled sort

History