2 70 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRIITSH BIRDS 



the Co])]iy, and a steady ajjproacli to a 

 ([iiality of feather more in harmony -with 

 that of the Norwieh than tlie looser phimat;e 

 of the Laneashirc. Further improvements, 

 liowever, can yet lie made in tyjic of body 

 and comjiactness of body feather, for it 

 must be borne in mind that all the ])ro- 

 perties which become the Norwieh should 

 be found in the Crest in as great a degree 

 as )5ossible, always remembering that there 

 must be good crest, which is a top-knot of 

 feathers radiating from a conmion centre 

 on the crown, and falling evenly over the 

 head in every direction. In shape it should 

 approach, as nearly as ])ossil)le, a circular 

 form, though such arc comjtarativcly rare, 

 the more general shape being an approxi- 

 mation to an ellipse. 



In size a good crest should extend in 

 front to or over the end of the beak, the 

 circumference passing round to the back 

 of the head on the ])lane of the eyes, which 

 shoidd be almost, if not entirely, hidden, 

 giving the bird an arch expression. Assum- 

 ing reasonable compactness — by which we 

 mean the absence of coarseness and irregu- 

 larity — the most im]K)rtant features in a 

 crest are its size, shape, and density ; 

 coloiu' is a secondary consideration, thougii 

 if this he good and the leather of a broad, 

 leafy texture it is a splendid finish. 



Size is mainly dependent upon the length 

 of the feather : shape upon its distribution. 

 The width and general con- 

 tour of the skull hn\'e also 

 sonulhing lo do with it. A 

 small crest will make any head look mean 

 and spjire, but a small head can carry a 

 large crest, and show it to ])erfection, too, 

 if the feather and form l)e there. It does 

 nnl rcfjuire an extra area, of skull to hold 

 the foundation of a well-fcatlured crest; 

 but if the leathers l)e indi\"idually not nmeh 

 larger thau I he |)(tals of a, daisy, as was 

 the case in many of the old Norwich crests, 

 the ease is dilTcrcnt. The most })eantilul 

 foiiiis which have appeared during the last 

 twenty-five years have been of flic long, wide 

 sort, and many with a flat, leafy feather, 

 a description of feather entirely different 

 from thai we ha\e indicated as charaetei'- 



Formation 

 of Crest. 



istie of a Norwieh head, in which extreme 

 shortness ])revails. or should <l(i. The shape 

 is dej^endent on two things- a small centre, 

 and the ])osition of that centre, which 

 should be suiTiciently remote from tiie base 

 of the V)eak to ensure a good frontage of 

 regularly radiating long feathers, known 

 technically as a good " entrance.'" It will 

 be plain that, in the case of a crest at all 

 elliptical in form, the farther the centre of 

 the elli])se is from the base of the beak so 

 will its value increase. Nothing will coni- 

 ])ensate for a bad entrance ; any delect 

 there is fatal. The centre which gives the 

 neatest and best balance to a large crest is 

 the one inunediately behind the eye — in 

 the centre of the top of the head, of course. 

 If it is more forward it detracts greatly 

 from the frontal crest, and if farther ])ack, 

 though it will often increase the fiontal 

 crest, it is at the expense of the balance of 

 the crest. Thus it is important to study 

 the position of the centre of the crest as 

 well as other jiroperties, as it assists to 

 either mar or give a good finish. 



The back of the crest is also a very 

 important jiart of it. If a yoimg dark- 

 crested bird he cxauiined in the iicst Ijcfore 

 there are any indications of feathers, there 

 will be observed at the back of the skull 

 a light, ercscent-sha])ed, scar-like mark, 

 the rest of the crown being covered with 

 black skin, iuflicative of the future colour 

 of the feathers. On this light-eolonrcd 

 s])ot leathers never grow, and if the head 

 he examined as the yoimg (|uills jircscnt 

 themselves, it will be seen that they s|)rout 

 from every i)orli()n of the surface exec|)t 

 this, which remains |)crmanently bare. 

 We have heard breeders remark that such 

 and such a crest was a good one. "only the 

 bird had knocked out a portion of the 

 feathers from the back in putting its jiead 

 through the water-hole."' It is sinii)ly a 

 popular fallacy : there never were any 

 featlKrs to knock out. The larger this ])alc 

 spot, the greater the ])robability of an 

 inferior back to the crest, which ought lo 

 co\-er this naked |)lace entirely, anil can 

 onlv do so by a |)roi)er dis])Osition of the 

 feathers. H.'iviuL;- onlv a small vacancy 



