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Our  Canaries 
I  will  give  one  (out  of  many)  instances  of  my  breeding  from  double-Crests. 
I  Paired  up 
Clear  body  dark  crested  buff  cock, 
bred  from  double  Crests. 
Heavily  variegated  Crest-bred  hen,  bred 
from  dark  crested  cock  and  Crest- 
bred  hen. 
Next  Year  I  Paired  as  follows. 
The  Crest-bred  cock  as  above. 
Dark  crested  buff  hen,  bred  from  a 
Crest-bred  cock  and   grey  crested 
hen  (Show  bird). 
Next  Year  I  Paired  as  follows. 
Dark  crested  cock,  not  the  best  of  the 
two  above  mentioned,  but  a  prize 
winner  at  the  Palace. 
Dark  crested  buff  hen,  lightly  marked. 
She  had  a  very  neat,  smooth  round 
crest,  and  won  ist  in  pair  class  at 
Crystal  Palace. 
This  bird  had  not  been  double 
Crested  for  4  or  5  years,  as  far  as  I 
i 
Result. 
Lightly  marked  Crest-bred  buff  cock. 
This  was  not  a  show  bird,  but  with  long 
head  feather  and  narrow  skull. 
Result. 
From  this  pair  I  bred  2  grand  Dark 
Crests,  the  best  one  of  the  two 
winning  at  every  Show  it  went  to 
both  in  England  and  Scotland,  and 
including  Crystal  Palace  and  Dundee. 
Result. 
From  this  pair,  I  had  one  nest  of  four 
Crests,  two  clear  bodies,  and  two 
slightly  marked  on  one  wing ;  all 
four  grand  show  birds,  and  all  of 
them  won  on  the  bench  in  the 
keenest  competition.  This  nest 
alone  was  in  those  days  worth  £yo 
to  ;^8o. 
could  go  back. 
"  1  carried  some  of  this  double-Cresting  on  further,  but  I  found  I  had  gone  far 
enough,  as  the  birds  commenced  to  get  rough  in  head  feather,  with  large  centres 
and  bare  places  at  the  back  of  head. 
"  Supposing  a  fancier  has  been  breeding  Crests  for  some  time  I  should  re- 
commend him  to  pair  two  really  good  Crests  together  as  previously  described,  and 
from  this,  select  the  best  crested  cock  and  pair  him  with  a  long  feathered  Crest-bred 
hen  from  a  Crest  and  Crest-bred.  After  this  one  must  use  judgment,  as  it  so  much 
depends  upon  the  results  of  the  first  cross—  this  will  also  mainly  depend  upon  the 
stock  they  have  been  bred  from  ;  one  must  not  expect  to  get  good  results  from 
birds  one  has  bought,  unless  you  can  thoroughly  rely  upon  the  fancier  you  have 
purchased  from  to  give  you  the  correct  information  as  to  how  the  birds  have  been 
bred,  or  have  seen  the  parents." 
ANOTHER  VIEW  OF  IT. 
Mr.  J.  S.  Clarke,  of  Woodford  Green,  also  contributes  some  remarks  on  this 
subject.     "  Double-cresting,"  he  writes,  "  may  be  resorted  to  occasionally  should 
your  birds  continue  to  produce  an  undue  proportion  of  Crest-breds.    Once  is 
sufficient ;  there  is  no  advantage  to  be  gained  by  repeatedly  double-cresting,  and 
