All RiijJtts Reserved. Kovember, 1911. 



BIRD NOTES: 



THE 



JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB. 



Two Rare Whydahs. 



By Wesley T. Page, F.Z.S., Etc. 



The two Whydahs described in this paper have not, un- 

 til very recently, been in private hands, but two specimens 

 (cT) of the Crimson-ringed of which we give a coloured plate, 

 and five specimens (cf) of Jackson's or the Drooping-winged 

 Whydahs, came into the possession of the London Zoo simul- 

 taneously, viz., October, 1910— a specimen, probably one of 

 the latier, af^e^wards came inlo the possession of our esteemed 

 miembe- Mr. C. T. Maxwell, and was exhibited by him at the 

 recent Clapham Show, securing premier honours in its class. 

 Mr. G Godchild's excellent drawing figures this species display- 

 ing (? playing) on the ground. A line drawing, also from Mr. 

 Goodchild's pencil, of the Queen Whydah {Vidua regia), is 

 also figured, but, merely for comparison purposes only, as this 

 species was fully described in Bird Notes, Vol. VI. 



At the Zoo these two species have lived together in one 

 of the roomy central cages in the Small Birds' House for the 

 past tAvelve months, and though there has been much " scrap- 

 ping " (while they were in colour), no harm has resulted 

 therefrom — the plates fully indicate what charming and inter- 

 esting acquisitions they \vould make to aviculture, and one 

 can only hope that soon a consignment may arrive, suffici- 

 ently nume.ous for 'dispersal among the numerous garden 

 (wilderness) aviaries, now 'scattered throughout the country, 

 where they will have a reasonable prospect of reproducing 

 their kind. 



Both species were presented to the London Zoological 

 Society by Mrs. G. Style. 



CiUMSON-RiNGED (Ckimson-napbd) Whydah (Peuthe- 

 tria laiicauda) . This fine and rare species is figured in 

 colour by Mr. Goodchild and in a most characteristic attitude, 

 a pose which it often assumed amid the branches of its roomy 



