Our  Canaries 
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the  ill  effects  of  so  doing  are  many,  chief  amongst  them  being  roughness  of  crest 
and  loss  of  radiation,  baldness  at  back  of  skull,  and  last  and  worst  of  all  it  tends 
to  produce  running  sores  or  ulcers  on  the  heads  of  the  young  birds  so  bred." 
THE  USE  OF  THE  CREST-BRED. 
"  In  pointing  out  the  evils  of  double-cresting,"  he  continues,  "  the  use  of  the 
Crest-bred  will  be  clearly  appreciated.  He,  or  she,  as  the  case  may  be,  is 
responsible  for  the  close  laying  of  the  feather,  its  shape  and  radiation.  Without 
him,  or  her,  there  would  be  no  Crested  Canaries.  It  is  difficult  at  times  to  get 
natural  smoothness  of  crest,  more  especially  in  the  better-class  birds,  which  have 
very  dense  and  lengthy  head  feather,  and  whilst  legitimate  dressing  and  preparation 
is  allowed,  it  is  as  well  to  try  and  breed  your  birds  as  near  the  Show  standard  as 
possible  rather  than  to  rely  on  the  cleverness  of  your  fingers.  The  Lancashire 
Coppy  is  most  useful  at  times  even  to-day,  these  birds  having  very  neat  backs, 
good  centres  and  neat  radiation.  It  saves  much  time,  however,  if  a  first  or 
second  cross  bird  is  obtained  ;  you  get  your  results  much  quicker  in  that  way. 
"  To  the  beginner  I  would  say  most  emphatically  :  Buy  your  birds  from  one 
breeder.  Birds  from  different  strains  seldom  '  hit.'  Be  sure  the  vendor  has  a 
well-established  strain.  If  you  purchase  a  pair  of  birds  from  a  breeder  who 
possesses  an  established  strain,  you  commence  where  he  leaves  off.  It  is  most 
unlikely  that  he  has  kept  anything  but  his  best  birds  for  many  years.  Conse- 
quently the  pair  he  elects  to  sell  you  may  possibly  produce  as  good  or  better 
young  ones  than  those  he  keeps  for  himself." 
ORTHODOXY  FOR  THE  NOVICE. 
We  have  thus  shown  a  variety  of  opinions  on  the  matter  of  departing  from 
the  usual  method  of  mating  Crest-bred  with  Crest  in  favour  of  putting  together 
two  crested  birds.  It  must  not,  however,  be  taken  as  a  universally  safe  rule  to 
follow.  In  the  vast  majority  of  cases  the  inexperienced  beginner  must  curb  his 
inclinations  to  plunge  into  these  experimental  matings  until  he  has  gained 
knowledge  and  is  fully  conversant  with  his  stock  and  their  innate  strong  points  or 
weaknesses.  For  although  these  matings  cannot  properly  be  termed  of  an  experi- 
mental character  in  the  hands  of  an  experienced  breeder,  who  knows  to  a  nicety 
what  to  expect  from  them,  in  the  hands  of  the  novice  with,  perhaps,  the  minimum 
of  knowledge  of  the  pedigree  of  his  stock,  they  become  experimental  in  every  sense 
of  the  word,  and  frequently  of  the  most  haphazard  description.  Even  the  most 
expert  breeder  would  never  dream  of  applying  the  rule  of  double-crest  mating 
throughout  his  stock,  nor  of  continuing  it  from  year  to  year.  Always  there  must 
be  some  definite  purpose  for  it,  as  when  the  proportion  of  crested  birds  among  the 
young  shows  a  pronounced  falling  off  from  year  to  year.  For  all  general  purposes 
the  orthodox  method  of  mating  Crest  with  Crest-bred  should  be  adhered  to. 
When  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  breed  with  double-crests  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  the  Crest-breds  which  will  come  of  this  mating  are  of  even  greater 
BB 
