The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-25 00:00:00

CRYSTAL PALACE BIRD 8110 TV.

To-day an exhibition of canaries and British and
foreign cage birds opens at the Crystal Palace,
and will remain on view till Wednesday next.
The show, if shcw it may be called, when the en-
tire aggregation of such small deer could be dis-
played with almost better effect in any ordinary sized
room, takes place in the tropical department of the
building, where the little cages are laid out in thin
rows and made to go as far as possible under the cir-
cumstances. There are, in all, 90 classes open to
exhibitors, but several have not been filled, and
many others are only represented by a couple of
little birds, so that, although each warbler is good
of its kind, the collection is, on the whole, about the
smallest that can well be called a " show," or, if a
" show," is one which any large bird fancier can
almost compete with in his own shop. The canaries
are the. strongest point of the little exhibition.
There are a great many varieties of these, from the
lean, high-shouldered, ugly mite known as the
" Belgian Fancy" down to the full-coloured, well-
shaped Norwich buffs, the spangled lizards, and
mealy mules, the favourites of London dealers.
We question, however, if the minute shade of
difference which exists between a " Jonque
London" and a ," mealy London Fancy" are
viewed with deep interest by' the public
or are even known to any beyond the dealers them-
selves, and cannot help thinking that just as many
visitors would be drawn to Norwood to-day if the
show was one of white mice or even. guinea-pigs.
The tropical department is full of wild singing birds,
and yesterday, daring the private view, when there
was no crowd of visitors. to frighten tht4n, every
bird that could sing, either in tree or cage, was tril-
ling away in harmonious rivalry, straining its little
throat to bursting, and making the building echo
again. Such a concert is worth a journey to hear,
though it is not likely it will be heard to-day, as the
crowd of visitors awes them all to silence, and a
singing bird that does not sing is oven less interest-
ing than the saucy London sparrows, which chirp
under the very cab wheels. Of the show of English
birds we cannot say much, as it is neither large nor
very varied. There is one cage which contains all
the varieties of the finch family—all except the haw-
finch, a truculent-looking bird with a beak like a
meat axe, and which, having the power and not
lacking the will to split the skulls of all his brother
finches, is wisely put in a cage by himself. There
are a pair of jackdaws which were taken from a
nest in England, and singularly enough are, though
full grown, of a pale cream colour. These, however,
are all the native notabilities, for we cannot count
among them a few cages of r2bins, over the fronts of
which, when left alone, it is necessary to drop a
little screen, lest the wild robins in the Palace should
come down and fight them to the death. Among the
foreign birds are one or two fine specimens of par-
rots, lories,:cockatoos, mackaws, and paroquets, none
of which, however, seem sufficiently impressed by
the situation to abate one jot of their usual loquacity
and noisiness. For this exhibition about £7O is to be
awarded in prizes of from £3 to 10s. among the vari-
ous competitors. When these and other charges con-
sequent upon the show have been defrayed, we much
question if the company do not find themselves losers
by the transaction. A canary show of little more
than a hundred birds will not draw down the gene-
ral public in crowds to Norwood. Even poultry shows
do not pay unless in connexion with cattle or dog
shows. The latter have been quite new experiments
in the way of exhibitions, yet the interest which the
public feel in them has been proved by the most
severe of all tests—that of financial success. The
dog shows at Leeds and Birmingham last year paid
largely, though many if the most valuable dogs
ware withheld from the provincial exhibitions, be-
cause their owners, not having time to go down and
see that they were properly cared for, were not wil-
ling to trust them. A well-planned and well-ma-
naged dog -show at the Crystal Palace would now
pay the company, for to such an exhibition gentle-
men would send send their best bred hounds, setters,
spaniels, bloodhounds, mastiffs, &c. Abroad English
dogs have as high a name, and cotatnand as high a
price as English horses, yet some of our most valued
breeds have become totally extinct, and others, not
less valuable, are fast becoming so. A dog exhibition
at the Crystal Palace will not entirely correct these
losses, we quite know, but as it is evident the
Company are at their wit's end for shows, when they
hope to draw with "London jonques" and " mealy
mules," we cannot help diverting their attention to
the example which the provinces have set them in
this respect, where even the most crude and hur-
riedly formed dog shows have cleared immense pro-
fits—profits which would cover ten times over the
amount spent to secure the poor display of larks
and canaries at Norwood.