. 71 



normally swallow sand, as nia\^ be always seen on dis- 

 section ; and as regards the adequacy of the food 

 supplied, I may say that I have had specimens stand 

 even the winter in my exposed outdoor aviaries on a 

 diet of canary seed and millet alone. — Ed.] 

 {To be continued). 



2)r. 1RU65 o\\ the rarer jfirefiucbes. 



Translated with notes from Die fremlandischen Stubenvogel 

 by Dr. E. Hopkinson, D.S.O., M.B. 



THE MASKED FIREFINCH [Lagonosiicia larvata) (i). 



Dr. Russ in the body of his work says that as he has uo 

 personal knowledge of this species, he can give only a short 

 description of it. He then goes on to mention it's habitat as 

 Abyssinia, West and other parts of Africa (2), and to quote 

 Riippell (3) and Henglin as having each met with these birds 

 in Abyssinia, in the months of January and April respectively, 

 where they found them at an altitude of from three to five 

 thousand feet, frequenting bamboo-clumps, shy, quiet and re- 

 tiring little birds, feeding chiefly on grass-seeds. By the time 

 however the Addenda to the volume were written he had had 

 the opportunity of seeing living specimens, on which he writes 

 as follows, giving additional details and a full description of 

 each sex : 



Among the many rare birds which I saw in the 

 Prince of Coburg-Gotha's collection I found three 

 Masked Firefinches, (two cocks and one hen), I regret 



(li The scientific names I use are those of the British Museum Cata- 

 logue. In the English names I have substituted the commonly-used name 

 "Firefinch" for th^e German "Astrild." 



(2) More recent research restricts the range of this species to East and 

 East -Central Africa. It must be remembered that Dr. liuss' book was 

 written at least thirty years ago. 



(.^) The only coloured plate I know of this bird is to be found in Riippell's 

 work on the Birds of Abyssinifi. 



