174 



varied with rich blue; the light parts of fig. 2 on plate 

 are blue. In spite of its heavy build, it is a beautiful 

 and striking bird. 



It is very scarce and only seen in pairs. 



Habitat: North-West Australia. 



Cbaffincb**Braniblefinch IbvbriDs- 



By AiXEN Silver. 



Miss Reeves of Wateringbury Hall in Kent is well 

 known as a breeder of hybrids, and last year was 

 successful with this cross, rearing two birds to 

 ulaturit^^ This year she has again continued her 

 experiments on a larger scale and with considerable 

 success, having already about a dozen young birds 

 fending for themselves. 



They have been bred both ways i.e., male F. 

 ccelebs x female F . moiitifringiUa and vice versa, and the 

 oflfspring, bred from pairs in which F. vioniiJrinoUla 

 was the male parent, have turned out the more 

 handsomely coloured. 



In the nest plumage these hybrids resemble young 

 Chaffinches, varying a good deal however in colour 

 and size (probably difference of sex). One adult bird 

 bred last year quite differed from the unauthenticated 

 specimens exhibited under the name of this cross at 

 the bird shows and like all new hybrids was contrary 

 somewhat to one's expectations. 



Miss Reeves has caged up in aviaries batches of 

 British finches and buntings, and in no case is there a 

 male enclosed in any particular aviary where a female 

 of the same species is flying loose, consequenth^ every 

 ^%% hatched contains a hybrid of some kind. This 



