Nesting of Hawfinch and WliydaJi. 261 



of tTiesc birds, fo?- I think the very low price of ids. Thev 

 turned out to be cocks of the two varieties of Eastern Haw- 

 finches. 7'he Japanese {Eophona pprsonaf^a) is considerably 

 larger than the one aboU|t wliich I have been writing, more- 

 over he is a fine singer, whereas F. . melanura has rather a 

 poor apology for a song, the cock's \-ocal elTorts being little 

 or no better than the hen's. It is a long time now since I 

 have seen either of these birds advertised in the Bird Market. 

 They are very desirable aviary birds. 



My Red-shouldered Whydah cock came to me from 

 our member, Mr. G. I-^. Rattigan, in I believe, the spring of 

 1 91 3. He called it Bocage's Whydali, hut I think that the 

 Red-shouldered \\'hydnh is the bett(M- name. Until this year 

 it has had no chanc' of re])roducing its kind here, as I have, 

 had no hens with it that were unattached, but this year T was 

 able to furnish it wath a mate. The cock is a heavily built 

 bird, and, wli 'n in colour, is a rich i^lack. A patch of scarlet 

 on the shoulders is ver)- cons])icu')Us wlicn the bird is display- 

 ing or in fli,Liht : the wing coverts are ed,ged with brown. A 

 noticeabk fc^aturc is the bird's beak, which is large and of a 

 pale bluish-grey. J-'rom the commencement of the season he 

 paiil the hen a good deal of attention, and about the middle 

 of Jul) h(- indui cd Iut to go to nes(. This was built in a 

 low bush, but I am unable to say whether it was the work 

 of th " cock or of the hen, as I was away at the time, and 

 orily found il after my return. Il then contained eggs of both 

 the Red-sli(Hddered and tlve Red-colK'ired Wiiydahs, and I 

 photographed them just as they were, afterwards removing 

 them for my collection. The Red-shouldercd's eg,us were 

 vftitc, blotched and s|)eckled with red. After this failure ho 

 built her a nest in a creeper, a thinly woven domed affair. 

 This the hen linetl with some fine grass, and again laid two 

 eggs whilst she was sitting, which she did rather unsteadily 

 The cock had many fights with the Crimson-crowned Weavers, 

 and the young Ked-( ollared Whydah and was easily able to 

 keep tlien away from the vicinity of his nest. After twelve 

 day.-, incubation one egg hatched ; the other disappeared. 

 The little one only Ii\eil two days, so one more failure is 

 to bv- added to my records. When the cock is displaying to 



