TWl !5\lgbts !5\cscrv(i6. September. 1922 



BIRD NOTES: 



— THE — 

 JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB. 



•.■.■.-.■.■.-^■-"-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-^-■-■-"■■-■iAi"--.----"---"-----"-"-"-*- 



The Breeding of the Misto Seedfinch. 



(Sycalis lufeiventrts.) 



By W. Shore Baily, F.Z.S. 



You published last year an account of the nesting' of this 

 little finch, and I am now able to send you a few notes on the 

 successful rearing- of young. 



This spring I bought two more pairs from De Von, who 

 was advertising them as Field Saffrons; my original pair, as 

 Gome of your readers may remember, were privately 

 imported. These birds seem to be very rarely imported by the 

 dealers, and, when they do come over, are, I have no doubt, 

 offered as Saffron Finches, but Saffron Finches they certainly 

 are not. nor are they. 1 should imagine, very closely related to 

 tlicm. The two Saffron Finches with which I am acquainted — 

 -V. pclzclni and S. fai'coJa — are much more nearly related to 

 Sparrows. They build in holes a large untidy nest, and their 

 eggs are indistinguishable from some varieties of our English 

 Sparrows'. The Seedfinch, on the other hand, nests on the 

 ground, in the centre of a thick tuft of grass; the eggs are 

 about half the size of the common Saffron, white with pink 

 or red spots, sometimes all over, and sometimes at the larger end 

 cnly. 



At the beginning of May I turned my three pairs into 

 different aviaries. One of the cocks was promptly killed by a 

 Weaver; me other tw^o pairs settled down nicely. Ihe first 

 to nest was my original pair, but as these eggs were rather 

 exposed I took them for my collection. They soon w^ent to 

 nest again, this time in a heavier clump of grass. The first egg 

 was laid on May 25th, and she commenced to sit three days 

 later. On Jtuie 17th I noticed four naked young ones in the 

 nest, These were fed by both parents, from the start, on 



