282 The Canary Book. 



few years you will be enabled to breed them more frequently. 

 Of course, you will breed birds at first that are not what you 

 require, these must be discarded, and sold for what they will 

 bring in the market. You may pair brothers and sisters or 

 first cousins, but do not continue this in-breeding too long, or 

 the birds will deteriorate in size and feather. 



In selecting Cinnamons for these operations you must have 

 large birds, with plenty of substance and good broad skulls, 

 and if they have heavy eye-brows, so much the better, as the 

 greatest difficulty you will experience will be to get large 

 well-formed crests, as the admixture of the Cinnamon blood 

 most undoubtedly has a tendency to circumscribe the crest; 

 therefore, to breed a really well-crested Cinnamon variegated 

 bird you 'want no more Cinnamon in its composition than 

 will give the required colour. On the other hand, if you pur- 

 sue the improvement in crest too far you are apt to sacrifice 

 the colour; it requires patience, perseverance, and sound 

 judgment to obtain what you really want, but .when you 

 succeed you will be well repaid for all your trouble, for a 

 good bird of this variety can always command a good price 

 and plenty of customers, and there is a more open field for 

 obtaining success ' than there is in breeding Norwich crests, 

 where you have thousands of breeders to contend against, 

 whereas the breeders of crest Cinnamons are confined to com- 

 paratively few. In a few years these classes will be extended, 

 and the demand for them will increase accordingly. These 

 birds should be bred and judged by the same methods and 

 standards as are applied to the crested Norwich canaries. 



