140 The Breeding of Grey Finch&s, etc. 



teresting and pretty birds, very shapely, with some most 

 happy combinations of grey, brown, tawny, white and black 

 among them, while the Marsh Finch (S. pahistris) is strikingly 

 handsome. They certainly call into being all one's powers 

 of observation if you are going to know anything about their 

 doings, for, in a roomy wilderness aviary, unless looked for, 

 they are not seen for weeks at a stretch. Most of them have 

 really passable songs; courting disp'ay, so far as I have noted 

 it, only consists of the fluttering of the wings and a tremulous 

 movement of the whole body, as if every part worked on 

 springs, and then a chasing of its mate. Well, I expect my 

 readers will consider this as writing in rather a minor key; be 

 this as it may, they certainly are favourites of mine. 



Thk Geey Finch {Sper^nophiJa grisea) is rather a hand- 

 some species in his garment of various greys, blackish and 

 white; and before giving the nesting episode, I had better 

 describe the plumage. 



Adii/f Male : Above it is mostly dark ^rey, with a slaty sheen, and 

 washed lightly with brown on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; wing- 

 coverts blackish, narrowlv edged with ash,\ grey, outer webs of the inner 

 primaries are white at the base, forming a small white piitch, which is al- 

 most obscured by the coverts ; tail feathers blackish, with dusky grey 

 margin, the central feathers with a slight ashy sheen ; lores and base of 

 cheeks blackish ; crown, sides of face, ear-coverts, sides of neck and 

 throat, sides of body and flanks dark grey with a slaty sheen ; chin whitish ; 

 breast, abdomen and under tail-coverts white ; beak yellow ; legs and feet 

 brownish grey. Total length, 4s inches, tail H. 



Afhilt Fcmnl.^: Above palish olive brown ; wings dusky brown with 

 grey margins : crown dusky ; lores, eye region, ear-coverts, cheeks, thighs, 

 and under tail-coverts pale olive ;" centre of breast and abdomen whitish 

 brown. Total length IJ inches ; tail H. 



H^h/faf : According to the British Museum Catalogue the dis- 

 tribution is from Guiana to Venezuela ; Trinidad and Colombia, extending 

 to Panama. 



In 1911 two young Grey Finches were successfully 

 reared in my aviary, and lived some time after being able 

 to fend for themselves, but as all I knew about these birds 

 (Mr. W. E. Teschemaker had a similar happening almost 

 concurrently), Avas the increase in "the number of my stock 

 and knew nothing about either nest or incubation — certainly 

 I did see the old cock feed them on two occasions — the event 

 was not claimed as a record and practically no notice taken 



