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Our  Canaries 
free  from  any  fault  in  those  particular  points,  and  if  the  same  condition  can  be 
carried  back  and  equally  apply  to  the  grandparents  on  either  side  it  will  add 
enormously  to  the  value  of  the  selected  bird,  as  there  will  be  comparatively  very 
little  risk  of  its  possessing  any  hereditary  tendency  to  the  fault  in  question,  and  its 
merits  in  that  respect  will  prove  of  the  greatest  possible  value,  together  with  a 
corresponding  increase  in  its  powers  of  transmitting  its  own  good  points  to  its 
progeny.    As  a  case  in  point  we  will  suppose  we  have  a  Crest  with  a  pinched 
frontal  or  an  oval  crest  for  which  we  wish  to  select  a  Crest-bred  with  a  wide, 
full  entrance,  and  stout  short  beak,  densely  feathered  dome-shaped  skull,  well 
furnished  with  a  thick  cushion  of  feathers,  and  as  round  in  outline  as  possible. 
Before  deciding  we  should  take  care  to  see  that  it  is  not  an  exceptionally  good 
bird  which  has  turned  up  as  a  sport,  or  "throw-back,"  among  a  lot  of  mediocre 
brethren  and  sisters,  and  that  its  parents  were  both  free  from  any  tendency  to 
pinched  fronts,  narrow  skulls  or  entrance,  or  flat  heads,  long  beaks,  or  thinly 
furnished  heads  at  the  front.    They  should  in  short  be  as  strong  in  the  points  one 
wishes  to  correct  as  the  bird  itself  which  is  selected  for  the  purpose,  and  similarly 
with  the  grandparents  on  either  side. 
The  growth  of  the  modern  Crest  fancy  and  the  perfecting  of  its  Crest  qualities 
are  not  quite  without  a  note  of  sadness.  For  a  great  sacrifice  has  been  made  of 
colour  and  markings  in  the  craze  for  other  essential  Crest  qualities — a  sacrifice 
which  has  hitherto  appeared  to  be  wholly  disregarded  or  not  appreciated  by  many, 
save  the  old  breeders  who  knew  all  the  charm  of  these  vanished  points  in  the  old- 
time  Norwich  Crest  before  the  craze  for  size  and  feather  began.  Markings  have 
been  almost  entirely  unheeded,  and  the  strikingly  handsome  even-wing-marked 
dark  Crests  are  practically  visions  of  the  past,  and  the  yellows  have  lost  all  the 
charm  of  the  rich  deep  orange  yellow  which  was  the  birthright  of  the  Norwich  in 
its  crested  as  well  as  its  plainheaded  variety.  The  clear-body  dark  Crest  seems 
the  only  variety  that,  as  a  type  of  marking,  has  retained  a  hold  on  fanciers  through 
all  these  changes.  Happily  there  is  an  awakening  in  store  for  Crest  fanciers. 
Already  considerable  interest  is  being  displayed  in  the  direction  of  improving  the 
yellows,  and  this  we  are  convinced  is  but  a  forerunner  of  a  new  desire  to  give  the 
added  charm  of  typical  markings  and  a  richer  tone  of  colour  to  the  beautiful 
feathery  bodies  and  huge  crests  which  are  now  so  well  established.  The  revival 
of  these  features  in  the  present  day  type  of  Crests  and  Crest-breds  must,  and  will, 
give  a  great  impetus  to  the  interest  in,  and  popularity  of,  the  Crest. 
BREEDING  YELLOW  CRESTS. 
We  have  to  thank  Mr.  G.  CoUedge,  of  Derby,  for  the  following  notes  of  his 
experiences  in  breeding  yellow  Crests.  "  It  is  often  said,"  he  writes,  "  that  the 
introduction  of  yellows  once  in  three  years  is  sufficient  unless  we  wish  to  get  thin, 
short,  hairy  feather,  which  is  no  use  whatever  in  the  production  of  a  good  yellow 
or  buff  Crest.     The  great  majority  avoid  yellow  blood  as  the  greatest  drawback  to 
