THE CRESTED CANARY 



273 



chance result in an endeavour to get other 

 niarkinos. A grey crest is neither dark 

 nor clear. Ijut is composed of a mixture of 

 dark and Hglit leathers, or of feathers iiaving 

 a dark midrib and Hght edge, whicli, in a 

 Buff bird, has a very pleasing effect, and 

 we think it could well be systematically 

 bred, both as a show bird and as a valu- 

 able asset to the breeding-room. It is 

 rather remarkable that the majority of 

 Grey Crested Canaries are bufT — casual ones 

 have a slight grizzle mark on the wing ; 

 when such is the case it forbids their admis- 

 sion to a Clear-bodied class. They generally 

 have a clear body quite free from marking, 

 and also generally " blow " clear in the flue, 

 and are thus very nearly allied to the last 

 on our list, the Clear-crested bird, and we 

 see no reason why a Clear-crested strain 

 having good crest properties should not 

 be more cultivated, for several have been 

 jjroduced which in size, shape, and density 

 woidd compare favourably with the Green- 

 crested. Shape and feather and every 

 requisite could be had as well in the Clear 

 as in any other, but the want of contrast 

 in colour is doubtless the cause of no 

 decided steps having been taken by fanciers 

 in this direction. Yet curiously enough, 

 in the giant Coppy, a clear crest is the 

 highest jioint of perfection, and no one 

 who has seen the best specimens of this 

 breed can have any doubt as to the air of 

 refinement the clear crest gives, and we 

 submit that there is a fair field open here 

 for the breeder's skill in j)roducing good 

 " Clear Crests." 



We have left the Self-coloured Green 

 standing out in the cold, because we have 

 a difficulty in assigning him his true place. 

 Probably it is strictly immediately behind 

 the Heavily Variegated, which is the first 

 remove from the Green, and is the class 

 with which he usually competes at shows. 

 The Self-coloured Green is most valuable 

 in the breeding-room, even if not very 

 attractive on the show-bench, and when 

 ^jroperly mated, does much towards the 

 production of the good points of the bird 

 at the head of our list of Crests. Only in 

 the event of superlative merit in crest (for 

 35 



nothing else can serve him to take first 

 position in the class) tlie Self-coloured 

 Green generally remains at home. 



Throughout the whole of these classes 

 the prominent idea is crest, and after con- 

 necting it with the two forms with which 

 we first coupled it, the fancier entirelj'' 

 ignores the value of such marking as re- 

 mains. He groups the classes (c) and (d) 

 into one, and sees merit in them only in so 

 far as it is connected with crest develop- 

 ment. With a fancier's innate love for 

 marking, he cannot but accord to it its 

 value when of the right kind, but woidd 

 rather combine still further and luiite the 

 two Marked and the Variegated than sub- 

 tract one iota from their crest-worth by 

 recognising any body-marks in them as 

 siqierior to it. His creed is crest, and 

 marking, if possible, but the former at any 

 cost. He does not assign to these minor 

 points the values they carry when separate 

 from crest, but accepts their perfect 

 development, when they fall to his lot, 

 rather as fortunate adjuncts than the 

 results of systematic breeding. Correct 

 as this reasoning may be up to a point, 

 we confess that we should like to see 

 more attention paid to the production of 

 the various markings and coloiu's without, 

 of course, any sacrifice in crest properties, 

 for then better classification could be 

 demanded, and, what is more important, 

 there would then be the birds to fill the 

 classes. Nineteen out of every twenty 

 Crest breeders to-day give no thought to 

 colour or marking, or to breeding a good 

 Yellow Crest, their whole craze is to breed 

 a winner, never mind colour. It is a blind 

 policy to pursue, one class or colour of 

 bird, for it kills classification for the breed, 

 and as the various marked and coloured 

 birds become scarcer, all drift into the one 

 channel of ordinary variegation. Breeding- 

 rooms are over-run with such birds to-day 

 to an alarming extent, and while we 

 know that we cannot afford to risk the 

 loss of one important structural point in 

 an endeavour to fix some other foreign 

 to it, marking should yet have due con- 

 sideration without sacrifice of crest, if a 



