Crest (zoology)

“ We have always particularly admired its ample and curious crest, which is possessed by both male and female, and, though admitting of being flattened so as to lie close on the head, is usually to be seen erect, and gives it an air unusually spirited and striking. ”

“ Head and crest rich rusty orange; the tips of feathers of crest black; the neck and chest rufous changing to a pink hue on breast; wings and tail black with broad white parallel bars; under-parts buff to white; legs brown; beak black; eyes brown. Length, 12 inches.
THE hoop-hoop-hoop cry of this bird is almost as curiously attractive as its varied plumage and magnificent crest. You see it everywhere, and it loves the haunts of man. It is not well to know too much of one’s heroes, and it certainly is well not to know too much of the habits of some of the wild children of the earth and air. ”

“ At the approach of the breeding season, many spend a great part of the day at their roosting places, perched on the low trees principally growing in the water, when every now and then they utter a rough guttural sort of sigh, raising at the same moment their beautiful crest and loose recurved plumes, curving the neck, and rising on their legs to their full height, as if about to strut on the branches. They act in the same manner while on the ground mating. ”

“ Highly variegated; long, smooth, glossy crest, showing green and purple iridescence and marked by two very narrow white parallel lines, curving from bill and behind eye almost to end of crest; throat white, extending irregularly in two stripes, one up behind eye, the other nearly around neck; breast, glossy brown, spotted with white and set off on either side by a conspicuous white stripe bordered with black; wings highly iridescent, marked by green patch bordered with white. Female: Much duller and less conspicuously marked ”

“ Large as are the crests in the old males, they are barely present in the females and young, and they must be regarded partly as of use to the larger animals, and partly as ornamental; for in animal nature, as a rule, the gentlemen are more beautiful than the ladies, the idea of beauty being, of course, very much a matter of taste. They are evidently protections against falls, and they also give origin to muscles. The back crest, when looked at from behind, is almost fan-shaped, the bone being broad, and the great muscles of the neck and back are attached to it. ”

“ Its broad and rounded crest of pure white, with an edging of jetty black, and which it closes or spreads out at pleasure, renders the male of this species conspicuous on the waters to which it resorts. The activity of its motions, the rapidity of its flight, and its other habits, contribute to render it a pleasing object to the student of nature, not less than to the sportsman. ”

“ The crest of this species, which is generally erect, is a great improvement to its general appearance, the tints of the plumage being, as you perceive, kind reader, none of the most brilliant. The Crested Titmouse is of a rather vicious disposition, which sometimes prompts it to attack smaller birds, and destroy them by thumping their heads with its bill until it breaks the skull. ”

“ With most of these birds head ornaments of all kinds are more fully developed in the male than in the female; but in Polish fowls the crest or top-knot, which in the male replaces the comb, is equally developed in both sexes. In the males of certain other sub-breeds, which from the hen having a small crest, are called lark-crested, "a single upright comb sometimes almost entirely takes the place of the crest." ”

“ All the upper parts are dark, but vary individually. The prettiest specimens are dark purplish grey, with black marblings; others incline more towards brown ground-tones, the blackish markings then appearing more prominent. The sides are often stippled with tiny whitish dots. The iris is golden yellow.–The nuptial male has a low, not serrated crest, which extends uninterruptedly from the nape into the dorsal fin of the tail. The crest is pale yellow, with black vertical bands and spots. The ground-colour of the upper parts inclines to blue, especially on the sides. ”

“ The young acquire the full beauty of their plumage in the course of the first spring, when they can no longer be distinguished from the old birds. The legs and feet are at first of a darkish olive, as is the bill, except at the base, where it is lighter, and inclining to yellow. At the approach of autumn, the crest assumes a form, and the feathers of the lower parts of the neck in front become considerably lengthened, the feet acquire a yellow tint, and the legs are marked with black on a yellowish ground ”

“ We found the range covered with brigalow and other still more impervious scrubs. On the crest, the rock consisted of clay ironstone. The centigrade thermometer stood, at noon, at 30° 5' equal to 87°, of Fahrenheit; the height above the sea we made 2032 feet. Beyond this crest, we encountered a scrub of matted vines, which hung down like ropes, and pulled some of us off our horses, when it happened that any of these ropes were not observed in time in riding through the thicket. A very dense forest of young Callitris trees next impeded us, and were more formidable than even the vines. ”

“ It has a way of elevating and depressing its crest, and bobbing its head up and down, in a manner which could not fail to attract the attention even of the most incurious, the whole aspect and expression of the bird varying with the raising and depressing of the crest. ”

“ Crested Birds.—If a bird has a crest it should be raised by gently pulling forward the skin, where it will remain in position after it is neatly arranged; but in case of a dried skin, it may be necessary to prop the crest up with a piece of cotton, moulded on the head of a pin, the point of which is sunk into the head. ”

“ Early in the spring the crest of the male assumes a size and hue which make him a conspicuous object; and he may be seen pursuing the other sex through the water, frequently doubling his fin-like tail forwards in a sort of bight or loop, and vibrating it with a rapid tremulous motion. ”

“ The orifice of the nostrils raised and crescentic. Beak short. Comb absent, or small and of crescentic shape; wattles either present or replaced by a beard-like tuft of feathers. Legs leaden-blue. Sexual differences appear late in life. Do not incubate. There are several beautiful varieties which differ in colour and slightly in other respects.
The following sub-breeds agree in having a crest, more or less developed, with the comb, when present, of crescentic shape. The skull presents nearly the same remarkable peculiarities of structure as in the true Polish fowl. ”

“ In the tasselled Game a few long feathers arise from the back of the comb; in many breeds a crest of feathers replaces the comb. The crest, when little developed, arises from a fleshy mass, but, when much developed, from a hemispherical protuberance of the skull. In the best Polish fowls it is so largely developed, that I have seen birds which could hardly pick up their food ”

“ It is less carefully executed, but seems to be a long-necked bird with a crest and outspread wings curiously conventionalized. In the Nuttall Codex there is another unmistakable heron (Pl. 15, fig. 4) with the same general characteristics, though the crest is less prominent, here represented as a series of erectile feathers separated at their tips. This elongation of the crest seems to be carried still farther in what seems to be the head and neck of a heron from Dresden 37b (Pl. 15, fig. 3) with erectile feathers at intervals along its length.
The heron is seldom employed as a head-dress. ”

“ With the Polish breeds the bony protuberance of the skull which supports the crest is partially developed even before the chickens are hatched, and the crest itself soon begins to grow, though at first feebly;366 and in this breed a great bony protuberance and an immense crest characterise the adults of both sexes. ”

“ Their crest at such times is laid flat and close to the head. It is lowered or raised at the will of the bird, but more usually stands erect. Their plumage is silky. The females do not exhibit the waxen appendages on the wings so soon as the males ”

“ The comb when of any peculiar shape, as with Horned, Spanish, and Hamburgh fowls, affects in a corresponding manner the underlying skull; and we have seen how wonderfully this is the case with Crested fowls when the crest is largely developed. With the protuberance of the frontal bones the shape of the internal surface of the skull and of the brain is greatly modified. The presence of a crest influences in some unknown way the development of the ascending branches of the premaxillary bone, and of the inner processes of the nasal bones ”

“ Vertebral crest strongly projected and decreasing in size posteriorly, with vertebrals on neck at least four times higher than those between hind limbs; crest bifurcates posteriorly and extends onto tail less than 1⁄4 its length; body between fore and hind limbs with dorsolateral crests and without folds; dorsal scales heterogeneous in size, prominently keeled, and subimbricate; scales on flanks more homogeneous in size than dorsals and less than half their size; ventral scales imbricate, keeled, subrectangular, and mucronate; ventrals as large as largest dorsals. ”

“ The legs and lower part of the body are dark coloured, but the dorsal surface of the thorax and abdomen is coloured green and is raised so as to form a crest with jagged edges exactly reproducing the irregular margin of a fragment of leaf cut out by the mandibles of the ant. ”

“ Ears long and pointed, their backs white or pale fawn. Posterior back with a strongly contrasted pure white line, the white hairs of which are placed in a fold of the skin, which fold is everted when the animal is excited, and then forms a prominent white [57] crest; rump white, in continuation with the dorsal line; tail also white basally, black and crested terminally. Belly pure white. Limbs fawn-coloured externally, white on their inner sides and behind.
Skull-dimensions of a male:—Basal length 7·8 inches, greatest breadth 3·7, muzzle to orbit 4·7. ”

“ When perfectly dry, place them in the natural order, and they will ever afterwards continue as you wish them. If the crest is wished to be erect, the feathers must be moved in a contrary direction for a day or two, when they will soon take the position wished for. ”