94 



thick bush, and be3^oiid it's beauty to possess no note- 

 worthy characteristics. When courting, it's antics 

 resemble those of the Common Firefinch, though as 

 an additional attraction to it's mate, it has the habit 

 of spreading out it's tail like a fan. I regret I know 

 no further details respecting it's nesting and breeding 

 habits. Most of those which are imported, more 

 especially the hens, die very soon after their arrival, 

 and even the cocks, after getting through the moult 

 well, are liable to succumb, one after the other, with- 

 out any very obvious reason. Count York laments a 

 similar fate with his birds, but Mr. Jaenicke seems to 

 have been more fortunate and sends me some interes- 

 notes : '* My Dark - red Firefinch," he writes, "has 

 " lived with me for three years ; he is an active little 

 *' bird, always hopping about the branches and 

 " peeping inquisitively into every cranny ; his song 

 " consists of a short strophe, but is pretty loud and 

 *' frequently repeated. He once seemed to have a 

 " luke-warm friendship for a hen Cordon Bleu, but 

 *' has shown no signs of any attachment to any of my 

 " hen Common Firefinches." 



As regards nomenclature, I think that a better 

 name than " Dark-red Firefinch " for this bird would 

 be the " Darker-red," or perhaps better still the 

 simpler "Darker Firefinch." Again, it might be 

 called the " Beautiful Red Senegali " or the " Carmine 

 Waxbill," though this last would be likely to mislead. 

 It is not yet included in the price-lists of the whole- 

 sale dealers, though from time to time it occasionally 

 appears in the market, neither is it yet recorded in 

 the lists of the larger Zoological Gardens. 



A description of the bird follows here, but as a more com- 



