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^be aiario jfincb. 



By H. R. FiT,r,MKR. 



colouring of this charming South 

 African songster is b}^ no means 

 brilliant. The male has the whole 

 of the back, wing coverts, and 

 tail, reddish brown (the colour of 

 a bay horse). The head and 

 throat are black, and the black 

 extends down each side of the body forming an 

 irregular black band on each side of the breast and 

 leaving the centre of the breast and abdomen 

 dirty white. The white colour extends upwards, 

 over the shoulders — almost meeting at the back of 

 the neck. The quill-feathers are black. 



In the female, the bold masses of black and white 

 and brown, which distinguish the cock, are absent, 

 and the general colour is a greyish brown washed 

 with reddish brown on the upper parts. The female 

 is usually markedly smaller than the male. 



Young males resemble the females, and assume 

 the distinctive plumage of their sex gradually after a 

 moult. M}^ aviar3^-bred cock came into full plumage 



