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other species, Amadina viarginalis, which appears to 

 be at present unknown to English aviculturists. 



While the well-known Ribbon or Cuttliroat Finch 

 is a native of West Africa, its near relation the Red- 

 headed Finch is found in the more temperate regions 

 to the South. It appears to be somewhat local in its 

 distribution, but fairly common in many parts of 

 South Africa. I do not think that any South African 

 species are largely imported into Britain — and certainly 

 the Red-headed Finch is a comparatively rare bird here. 

 It is somewhat larger than the Ribbon Finch, which 

 it closely resembles in general appearance, with the 

 very noticeable difference, in the male sex, that the 

 red throat, band is wanting, and, instead, the whole 

 head is of a dull red colour — the red being more 

 scarlet and less crimson than that of the Cutthroat. 



I first became personally acquainted with the Red- 

 headed Finch in 1892 or 1893, when I purchased a 

 rather aged male, which lived some little time in my 

 possession. In the Spring of 1904, I received, with 

 other South African birds, a very fine pair of this 

 species. They passed the Summer of 1904 in my out- 

 door aviary, and the male remained out most of the 

 Winter. I brought the hen indoors in the Autumn 

 for fear of egg-binding. In May of this year I turned 

 them out again. A large number of eggs have been 

 laid each season, and the birds seemed at times to be 

 sitting properly, but no young have ever been hatched. 

 On the other hand, they have interfered seriously 

 with the nesting of the Double-banded Finches, and I 

 believe were guilty of the murder of some nestlings. 

 In consequence of this I removed them from the 

 aviary at the end of August. The male has since died. 



These are somewhat formidable looking birds, but 

 I have never found them dangerous to adults of other 

 species. 



