The Modern Crested Norwich. 



should always be kept in single cages by themselves so long 

 as they are required to be exhibited. 



One of the chief secrets of getting large crests is in 

 obtaining a superabundance of feathers, and these should be 

 long as well as profuse. 



In selecting birds to breed from, fanciers should examine 

 them minutely before purchase, when this can be done, to 

 see that they possess this property; pass one of your fingers 

 over the head of the bird from back to front, turning over the 

 feathers, and, if good, they should come down to nearly the 

 end of the beak ; then blow the body feathers back ; if a bird 

 is full of feather, you will have to blow hard before you can 

 obtain a sight of the under body ; and if they are of good 

 length as well as dense in quantity, that is what is required. 

 As I have previously remarked, the quantity of feathers is 

 greatly increased by breeding from two buff birds, instead of 

 the recognised method of a buff and yellow; but when this 

 is resorted to frequently, a coarseness of feather is produced, 

 which is objectionable, and to counteract it, crossing with 

 yellow birds is necessary. Yellow birds are never so full of 

 feather as buff birds, and they are more silky in texture. 



All show birds containing the Coppy crosses ought to be fed 

 with cayenne, or other ingredients, to influence the colour 

 during their moult, as they suffer much in loss of colour 

 through the Coppy crosses ; and high colour, next to a superb 

 crest and contour, is the next thing to arrest the eye of a 

 judge; and when you succeed in obtaining rich and brilliant 

 colour in these birds, the judges are generally nonplussed 

 and deceived as to the actual amount of Coppy present in 

 the specimens. 



I object to an immoderate use of cayenne pepper, but other 

 ingredients can be used for this purpose which are harmless 

 in their action. See " The influence of various ingredients on 

 the Colour of Canaries" (p. 135). 



When a bird is satisfactory in all other respects, but has a 

 long "Coppy tail," it is the custom of some exhibitors to 

 draw it out about a month before the date of the show to 



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