CHAPTER XXIX 



THE LANCASHIRE COPPY 



The word " Coppy," which signifies a 

 crest or topping, requires no further ex- 

 planation, its connection with the bird 

 being plain. The prefix " Lancashire " 

 seemed at one time as if it were on the point 

 of being superseded by " Manchester," 

 but when the latter began to come into 

 general use, the breeders in other Lancashire 

 towns, where the bird is extensively and 

 almost exclusively cultivated, protested 

 against even the great Cottonopolis itself 

 (where they maintained the bird was not 

 bred in any numbers) assuming the title, 

 and so secured for the bird its county name. 



In Lancashire the Coppy reigns con- 

 jointly with the Plainhead, and, though 

 one of the most interesting Canaries, it is also 

 one of the most local varieties, seldom 

 travelling beyond the bounds of its county, 

 to which fact can be attributed its com- 

 parative want of popularity. It is a bird 

 which formerly was generally exlribiteo 

 under the auspices of some local society 

 at the " house " where its meetings were 

 held. These shows were common in Lanca- 

 shire some thirty-five years ago ; but open 

 exhibitions have now practically supplanted 

 them. The home shows, however, in those 

 early days had their good side ; they were 

 meetings of breeders as distinguished fron 

 mere exhilHtors, and they were also the 

 strongholds of the Fancy as then consti- 

 tuted. 



In stature the Lancashire is the giant 

 of the family, standing almost a full head 

 and shoulders above any of its 

 ®'*^' fellows, though we doubt if the 

 very large good sj^ecimens can be found 

 to-day in such numbers as they were 

 twenty-five or thirty years ago, the time 

 when the great demand was at its height 



for good specimens to cross with Crests. 

 Lancashire breeders then thoughtlessly sold 

 many of their best specimens for tempting 

 prices, and the effects have not yet been 

 recovered. 



With the modifications necessary we 

 quote the late IMr. Blakston's description of 

 a Lancashire, which is well illustrated by 

 our Coloured Plate : 



Length and massive proportions, a large crest 

 or coppy, and a bold, deliant, erect stand arc the 

 breed's characteristic traits. 

 Characteristics. Tlie Plainhead is the non- 

 crested form of bird, and in no 

 way difTers from the Coppy in contour, its head 

 only requiring special description, which we will 

 give, as it is the base on which good crested forma- 

 tion is developed. A Plainliead skull, tlien. should 

 be large, very broad and rather long, having 

 a flatfish tendency on top, though not actu- 

 ally flat ; it cannot have these features too 

 largely developed. Not content with mere 

 width of skull, it should also have heavy 

 overhanging eyebrows ; and a redundant crop 

 of soft, long feather, as if with very little 

 en( ouragcment it would grow into crest. The 

 expression under its drooping brows is stolid 

 and sulky. 



Such a skull is, in the Coppy, thatched with 

 a large crest somewhat didering from that of the 

 Crested Canary. It is not in ail cases 

 so large as might be expected from 

 the great size of the bird, but is 

 invariably neat, with well-placed centre, good 

 circular frontage, and regularly radiating feather. 

 The difference in shape consists in wliat fanciers 

 call all front and no back, that is, witli a perfect 

 frontage, Init showing little or no true crest 

 formation or radiation from the centre in a 

 backward direction, the crest extending no 

 further on each side than serves to form a 

 horse-shoe frontage. 



The hinder portion is destitute of true radia- 

 tion, or falls over the back of the skull in sucli 

 a smooth way as to make it difTicult to say 

 wh.ether it consists of true crest-feather or not 



The 

 Crest. 



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