Tlircc Pi/teliae. 199 



niiill. The genus Pytcliu, 

 • liiii'lies. They frequent 

 )ii the ground,* have a 

 ■(■ yentle and conliding in 

 whose nesting habits have 

 )!' dry grass in bushes, 

 I procured a pair of 

 these birds in the early suniiuer of IDOCi (having only previ- 

 ously possess/d two odd mules), and this article except the 

 last paragraph, i-el'crs mostly to this pair; on arrival I found 

 them in ralh.'r poor paimagr, Iml, api)arently healthy. They 

 were put into owe of my outdoor llights, and in about a month 

 were in line condttioii. They at once settled down to nesting 

 and built in a ilartz-cage at the top of the flight, which was 

 wi'U screened with twigy branches, and were sitting hard, 

 wheu by an uiifortunate oversight on my part they escaped 

 owing to being cabed away suddenly 1 leit a small flap open, 

 and these birds and their companions (six pairs of uncommon 

 birds), at once found their liberty in the garden; one pair 

 and tAvo odd birds were recaptured, but unfortunately the 

 Auroras were not. 



To my mind l/i. lUiss did not exaggerate when he 

 described the Aurora- A slrild as one of the most exquisite 

 of the Oi'iiamciital Finches. To ,-ee it in the aviary, flitting 

 about in the sunlight, and making play to its mate, is certainly 

 a sight to be remembered, and 1 do not wonder at his speak- 

 ing of it as ravishing; it certainly cannot be fitly described 

 in a few tame words. As the male bird makes his play, the 

 glancing light bedecks his chaste and lovely garment as 

 with jewels. Tlu; love dance itself is both entertaining and 

 interesting, as with excited curtseys he hops round the female 

 with his tail spread, and erected almost perpendicularly. This 

 co/ntmues for some little time, when the female begins to mince 

 on her toes, the male's movements become similar, and they 

 thus gradually come together a's though drawn magnetically. 

 While the lov^e sport goes on, both birds utter a monoton- 

 ous but not unpleasant " tsit, tsit." The male's short song is 



*They are strictly arboreal as iiihabit.aiits of the aviary, only stopping 

 on the giomid for feeding piu'poses. 



jThis is also their demeanour in the aviary. 



