Our  Canaries 
290 
Mr.  Colledge  as  related  above.  Mr.  Evins  writes  :— "  To  bree  d  an  ideal  specimen  " 
of  the  Crested  Canary  is  an  achievement  to  be  proud  of.  It  is  most  difficult  to 
produce  a  large,  neat,  well-radiating  crest.  The  majority  come  imperfect,  many 
being  open  at  the  back  and  tilted,  or  having  bad  centres,  split  fronts  or  running 
centres,  whilst  others  are  horned,  have  mop  crests  or  running  sores  on  the  head, 
and  very  scant  in  feather. 
"  To  improve  the  young  from  Crests  which  are  bald  at  the  back  a  cross  with  a 
Lancashire  Plainhead  would  have  good  results.  But  the  young  are  likely  to  be 
smaller  in  crest  and  short  in  frontal.  It  is  better  to  pair  with  a  Crest-bred  that 
has  been  bred  from  stock  possessing  full  back  crests  and  has  a  broad  skull,  densely 
clothed  at  the  back,  with  no  suspicion  of  an  open  spot.  Crests  with  bad  centres 
if  kept  for  stock  should  be  mated  with  Crest-breds  that  have  been  bred  from 
Crests  with  small  neat  centres.  '  Horns '  is  a  very  bad  fault,  and  usually  found 
on  heads  which  are  long,  flat  on  top,  and  narrow.  They  are  caused  by  feathers 
growing  awry  from  just  below  the  ears  towards  and  through  the  back  of  crest 
instead  of  down  the  sides  of  the  neck.  The  Crest-bred  to  improve  this  fault  must 
be  short  in  head,  which  should  be  as  round  as  possible,  and  the  neck  full  and 
thickly  feathered  and  as  clean-cut  as  a  Norwich  Plainhead.  Many  fanciers  strive 
after  size  of  crest  only,  and  in  gaining  this  point  lose  formation.  Birds  with  a  lot 
of  loose  body  feather,  rough  wings,  and  a  generally  ragged  appearance,  are  prone 
to  produce  roughness  in  the  crests  of  their  progeny.  Therefore  the  wings  and  tail 
should  be  short  and  compact,  and  a  superabundance  of  loose  body  feather  avoided. 
VALUE  OF  THE  YELLOWS. 
"  Much  more  attention  should  be  given  to  yellows.  They  are  of  great  value 
in  toning  down  roughness  of  feather,  and  producing  that  dark  mid-rib  in  the 
feathers  of  the  crest  which  is  so  essential.  The  kind  of  yellow  to  use  is  a  large, 
well-feathered,  broad-chested,  and  big-boned  bird.  Small,  thinly  feathered 
yellows  are  not  to  be  recommended,  as  the  young  from  them  will  deteriorate 
in  size  and  feather.  Having  secured  a  suitable  yellow  mate  it  with  a  buff  with 
an  excess  of  body  feathers.  If  the  yellow  is  a  Crest-bred  it  will  not  matter  if  its 
crested  mate  is  a  trifle  rough  in  crest  feather  if  there  is  plenty  of  it.  When  you 
put  together  what  you  consider  a  first-rate  pair  (yellow  and  buft)  do  not  be 
surprised  if  the  majority  of  their  young  ones  are  disappointing  and  practically 
wasters  in  appearance.  This  is  the  interesting  part  of  yellow  breeding.  Amongst 
these  poor-looking  specimens  you  are  more  than  likely  to  have  a  gem  ot  the  first 
water.  Always  try  to  mate  a  yellow  with  a  bird  that  has  been  double-bufl"ed  for 
four  or  five  years.  If  more  fanciers  would  breed  for  yellows  there  is  no  reason  why 
the  birds  should  not  in  time  be  as  large  in  body  and  in  crest  as  the  buff's  of  to-day. 
"As  we  have  already  said,  the  marked  varieties  of  Crests  and  Crest-breds  have 
long  been  out  of  favour  and  neglected,  notwithstanding  that  the  even-marked  dark- 
crest  was  the  very  acme  of  beauty— the  dark  crest  and  markings  giving,  as  it  were, 
