i 9 9 



more difficult to induce to breed in captivity than its near 

 relation the Ribbon Finch, but in myshoitexperiencetherevei.se 

 has been the case. With the several pairs of the latter which I 

 have from time to time possessed, I have been singularly un- 

 fortunate, and young have only been fully reared on one occa- 

 sion, whereas my pair of Red-heads rear their young with ease 

 and have been quite prolific. 



I procured them in October, 1907, and as they were 

 acclimatized specimens, and reputed to be quite hardy they were 

 turned out of doors at once. Xests were built and eggs laid in 

 quite alarming numbers, but no serious attempt at incubation 

 was made, and fearing that the hen might become egg-bound I 

 took the birds into an indoor flight for the winter. Here again 

 a great man}'' eggs were laid, often on the floor, and in April, 

 when I decided to turn them out again, the hen was sitting so 

 tenaciously in a rush nest on five eggs, that she allowed me to 

 take the nest outside, without making any attempt to leave it. 



In the outdoor aviary, about a fortnight afterwards, the}'' 

 were again sitting in a husk. I did not anticipate any result, 

 and when I afterwards saw them looking for another site I took 

 it as a matter of course. Upon examining their old nest how- 

 ever I found it to contain one infertile egg, two dried up 

 youngsters which had probably died soon after they were hatched, 

 and one large well developed bird, apparently over a week old, 

 as the wing feathers had commenced to grow. It was dead, and 

 its crop was filled with husked canary and millet seeds. This 

 was far more than I expected to find in the nest, and was 

 decidedly encouraging. 



The skin of the naked nestling is purplish brown, darker 

 nearer the region of the throat ; down grey ; gape line creamy 

 white, and the palate is curiously marked with a network 

 pattern of white on a dark blue ground. 



The nests are always built in frantic haste. Both birds 

 carry the material and fly to the nest at the same time, and if one 

 selects a piece of hay first, it waits until the other has got a 

 suitable piece. The nest is usually completed in one day if there 

 is sufficient lining material, but feathers are added to the lining 

 when incubation has commenced, and even when young are 



