respects, and more particularly in the size and formation of the crest, which, after all, is doubtless the most distinguishing feature of this variety of canary, and has remedied many of the defects observable in the original Norwich birds, such as baldness at the back of the head, the result of too much in-breeding and double-crest breeding. It has also been the means of improving the shape of the crest; producing more round and oval crests. The old Norwich type were full and square in the back crest, whereas the Lancashire birds are deficient in this respect, but they fairly surpass the Norwich birds in length and width of frontal and side crest owing to the great length of feather inherited from their ancestors, the old Dutch canary. Thus the cross has proved most beneficial and advantageous by blending the properties possessed by each variety. That this variety has been vastly improved is indicated by the fact that many modern specimens have realised nearly as many pounds each as the best specimens of the crested birds a quarter of a century ago would realise shillings. One of the best specimens of the day is the "Prince of Wales," a bird purchased by Messrs. Mackley Bros., of Norwich, from a breeder at Plymouth, for £20; others we could mention that have been sold for similar and even higher sums, such as £30, £35, and £40, and I know of one case where £50 was offered and refused for probably the best bird of his day, £60 being asked for him. I, myself, offered Mr. G. E. Russell, of Brierley Hill, £30 for probably the best bird he ever possessed, and for which he paid, I believe, £20 to a firm in Northamptonshire. I have bred several birds that have realised £5 and £10 each, and some of these, after winning prizes in first-class company, have been re-sold at much higher figures. I enumerate these facts to show that the successful breeding of this variety is a source of profit as well as pleasure, but such birds are not bred every day-not by the most successful of breeders-neither can they always be obtained from the best-breeding stock procurable. I have known a pair of birds produce high-class specimens, and yet when these birds were separated and mated with other birds equally well bred, the

offspring from both parents proved most disappointing, so that whenever you find a pair of birds produce young of a superior class, do not separate them; and in order to keep the blood pure breed them occasionally nearly allied, say, brother and sister, or uncle and niece, and so on. I also recommend fanciers who breed extraordinarily good birds, if they desire to keep up their name and fame as successful exhibitors, to keep the best of their specimens to breed from, and not to sell them even at "fancy" prices, for in the long run it will pay best to keep them, for good specimens can only be bred from typical parents as a rule.

There is also a great deal depending on selection. Choose birds that possess the best points; you must have very stout full-bodied specimens, with wide big heads, thick necks, and a profusion of long feather, especially on the head, which, when turned back, should reach to the end of the bill, and with thick drooping eyebrows also; only you must not discard a really well-bred bird simply because it does not happen to inherit all these qualities. I have great faith in good blood, and I have known grand birds bred from hens that were undersized and rather small in head and body, but of undoubted quality as regarded breeding; hens not at all such as I would have selected had I not known the strain. On the other hand, I have seen miserable specimens produced from birds possessing all the qualities I have named-I refer, of course, to crested-bred plain-heads-but which were not the produce of high-class parents; so that it behoves an amateur to be careful in the selection of his breeding stock.

My advice is to keep your own plain-head hens, and buy crested cocks that have taken honours or prizes at the leading shows, and the more strains of high-class blood you can get into your birds the more reliable and profitable they will in time become, and the more certain you will be of producing typical specimens. The Lancashire fanciers are now very loath to part with their best birds. A few years ago some spirited breeders of the Crested-Norwich variety offered them tempting prices, and in many cases succeeded in obtaining

their very best specimens, and the result is that the Lancashire birds have in many respects deteriorated, and some of the cross-breds, passing under the name of Crested-Norwich, could beat them on their merits on the show-bench in Lancashire points alone, and in a few cases I have known this done with clear crested birds. Another reason why the Lancashire birds have lost in size and fullness of body is that some of the most prominent breeders of these birds have introduced the modern variety of Crested-Norwich blood (clear crests, of course), to improve and enlarge the crest of this variety, and it is doubtful if, in so doing, they acted wisely. I think not. Neither do I think that the breeders of the modern Norwich have shown sufficient discretion in dipping so deeply into the blood of the Lancashire birds, for it must be remembered that this variety is the produce of the old Dutch and Belgian birds, mixed with the blood of the common old-fashioned English canary, and as the Dutch and Belgian blood vastly predominates, the breed has inherited all the delicacy and weakness of constitution of the varieties named; and in consequence of the unlimited admixture of this blood with Norwich crests, the modern Norwich has become much more delicate than birds of the old type, being subject to tuberculosis, asthma, and kindred complaints. Many fanciers who strive to keep in the front rank of successful exhibitors have found to their cost that it is rather an expensive "game" to keep up, for some birds costing large sums have not lived more than two or three years when exhibited regularly, and were bred from, as they speedily became affected with diseases of the lungs or liver and succumbed during that trying ordeal, the annual moult.

It seems to me strange that this craze for size in body and crest should lead fanciers and judges alike to ignore other qualities which are most desirable in a perfect specimen, such as even marking, rich colour, silky feathers, and above all robust health; all these might be attained in time with judicious breeding and care; but in order to do this, some limit as to length should be agreed upon, and I think