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Oitr  Canaries 
value  for  stock  purposes  than  the  Crests.  They  will  prove  of  the  utmost  value 
to  mate  back  in  the  ordinary  manner  to  crested  birds.  The  typical  Crest-bred 
should  be  a  good  large  massively  built  bird,  with  the  correct  Bullfinch-shaped 
body,  a  short  tail,  and  a  wide,  round,  densely  feathered  head,  a  dome-shaped  skull, 
and  a  short  stout  beak.  Length  and  breadth  of  head  feather  is  at  once  the  first 
and  most  essential  feature  in  the  Crest -bred,  and  the  breeder  who  wishes  to  pro- 
duce those  immense  and  shapely  crests  seen  on  the  best  birds  of  to-day  cannot 
pay  too  much  heed  to  the  development  of  these  features  nor  be  too  careful  when 
he  elects  to  depart  from  fundamental  laws.  Whilst  fully  appreciating  and  giving 
due  weight  to  the  value  of  double-cresting  he  must  never  make  it  the  Alpha  and 
Omega  of  his  operations.  Judiciously  carried  out  in  certain  circumstances,  as  we 
have  shown,  it  is  an  invaluable  auxiliary  used  in  reaching  the  top  rung  of  the  ladder 
— a  pinnacle,  as  it  were,  which  adds  the  final  touch  of  beauty  to  the  structure, 
which  yet  owes  all  its  real  value  and  stability  to  the  solid  foundation  which  is 
built  and  must  be  chiefly  upheld  upon  the  combination  of  Crest  and  Crest-bred 
matings. 
TYPES  OF  CRESTS. 
Although  the  ideal  crest  of  to-day  is  of  the  round  daisy-shape,  it  must  not  be 
assumed  that  this  is  the  only  shape  that  occurs  among  good  exhibition  stock.  On 
the  contrary,  there  are  at  least  two  other  shapes  besides  the  circular  one  which  are 
to  be  found  on  good  well-bred  birds  and  often  full  of  quality  in  themselves.  There 
is  the  oval-shaped  crest,  which  shows  a  distinctly  greater  diameter  from  back  to 
front  than  from  side  to  side  ;  and  the  shield-shape  which  runs  off  more  or  less  flat 
and  square-cut  across  the  back  of  the  head  and  narrow  in  front.  Both  these 
crests  may  often  be  found  good  enough  to  carry  off  honours  on  the  show  bench. 
But  they  must  have  good  radiation  and  droop,  and  perfect  centres,  to  enable  them 
to  hold  their  own  in  open  competition,  whereas  in  these  types  of  crests  such  faults 
as  narrow  heads,  pinched  fronts,  splits,  and  badly  formed  centres  are  very  apt  to 
ruin  the  bird's  chances  of  ever  being  a  show  specimen. 
The  bird  known  as  "  mop  "  crest,  never  is  a  show  bird,  being  often  a  mass 
of  dense  crest  feathers  without  either  shape,  droop,  or  radiation,  and  scarcely  a 
well-defined  centre.  Such  birds  will  come  from  a  mating  of  two  Crests,  and  when 
paired  up  again  with  Crest-breds  with  plenty  of  broad,  dense,  and  long  head 
feather  and  nice  smooth  heads  make  eminently  useful  stock  birds,  and  often 
produce  young  of  the  highest  quality.  A  rather  deceptive  type  of  crest  for  the 
novice  is  one  that  is  flat  and  spreading.  It  may  possess  a  good  centre  and  radiate 
well  all  round,  and  has  the  appearance  of  being  much  larger  than  is  really  the 
case.  What  may  on  first  sight  appear  to  be  a  crest  of  very  fair  proportions  upon 
being  compared  with  a  very  moderate  sized  crest  which  shows  plenty  of  droop  will 
be  found  decidedly  smaller  than  the  drooped  crest  when  the  feathers  of  the  latter 
are  spread  out  flat  for  fair  comparison. 
