Our  Canaries 
IMPROVING  LEADING  FEATURES. 
For  the  following  notes  our  thanks  are  due  to  that  enthusiastic  Crest 
breeder,  Mr.  G.  C.  Ley,  Nottingham.  Taking  these  features  in  the  order  Mr. 
Ley  puts  them  :  (i)  Length  of  feather  and  substance  of  body  ;  (2)  breadth  of 
feather ;  (3)  substance  of  crest  feather  ;  and  (4)  quality  of  feather  ;  we  give  the 
salient  points  in  his  own  words.  "The  novice,"  he  writes,  "will  find  the  follow- 
ing methods  instructive  and  interesting.  To  increase  length  of  feather  and 
substance  of  body  double-buff  twice  from  known  pedigree  stock  with  Crests  and 
Crest-breds,  the  second  time  with  cousins.  This  entails  putting  together  two 
pairs,  using  two  brothers  or  two  sisters  to  obtain  cousins  for  the  second  time 
of  matching.  When  selecting  avoid  the  Crest  with  thin  hairy  feather,  and 
horny  at  the  back  of  the  head.  In  the  Crest-bred  avoid  a  bird  with  a  large 
beak,  also  a  flat  head  with  no  prominence  above  the  root  of  the  bill ;  in  other 
words  select  the  Crest-bred  with  a  forehead.  You  will  now  find  the  best  young 
from  the  cousins  have  gained  both  length  of  feather  and  increased  substance 
of  body  and  head.  Having  now  got  these  two  added  points  you  must  also 
have  an  eye  to  the  next  point— breadth  of  feather.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
important  items  for  an  exhibition  Crest,  consequently  the  following  particulars 
should  be  carefully  noted.  A  wide  crest  feather  with  a  beautiful  vein  and  soft 
texture  is  obtained  by  matching  together  two  greens.  There  are  three  classes  of 
greens,  jonque  or  yellow  green,  buff  green,  which  is  bred  from  jonque  green  and 
buff,  and  mealy  green,  which  is  bred  from  double-buffs  and  is  of  a  dull  colour 
showing  a  lot  of  meal.  This  is  the  class  of  green  for  matching  together  to  obtain 
breadth,  vein  and  soft  texture  of  feather.  Care  must  be  taken  at  this  stage  not  to 
match  together  green  bred  from  yellow  blood,  and  note  my  remarks  on  what  to 
avoid  in  matching  up  for  length  of  feather.    Now  we  come  to  the 
SUBSTANCE  OF  CREST  FEATHER. 
"  This  is  a  point  of  vital  importance  to  the  inexperienced  breeder,  and  in 
many  cases  the  end  of  his  career  as  a  Crest  fancier  through  his  young  birds 
deteriorating  in  quality  each  season  for  want  of  substance  of  feather.  This  is 
produced  by  matching  together  and  breeding  from  two  Crests.  Here  we  have  one 
of  the  secrets  of  success  or  failure,  and  my  foregoing  remarks  on  length  and 
breadth  of  feather  should  be  carefully  thought  out  before  double-Crest  breeding. 
The  birds  for  this  purpose  must  be  as  perfect  in  good  points  as  it  is  possible  to 
select  them  from  your  young  stock.  Neither  of  them  must  have  the  same  failings 
or  it  will  become  intensified  and  consolidated  in  their  progeny.  For  instance;  two 
light  Crests ;  their  young  will  for  generations  afterwards  breed  a  preponderance  of 
light  Crests.  By  the  same  rule  two  large  beaks,  two  with  horns,  or  two  with  thin 
hairy  feather  will,  when  double-Crest  breeding,  perpetuate  points  good,  bad  or 
indifferent  in  their  young  for  generations.  You  have  now  made  your  own  strain, 
and  must  use  care  with  new  blood  to  get  the  next  point — quality  of  feather. 
