9i



On the Breeding of the Painted Finch.



BREEDING OF THE PAINTED FINCH.


Emblema picta.


Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. XIII., p. 295.


By Reginald Phillipps.


(Concluded from page 67).


The nesting seasons of this species in this country seem

much the same as those of many foreign finches. This year,

they nested in the spring, then moulted, then nested again. They

go to nest freely and sit well, both birds assisting; and it is not

quite clear why there has been so little success ; I cau only sug¬

gest that the weather has been too cold for them. The nests

here have been large substantial domed structures of hay and

lined with feathers.


The first nest to which I need refer was built in a box some

7—8 feet from the ground, and was so concealed by trees that I

have little to say about it. It was occupied for some two months,

but nothing came of it. Now, in mid-October, a female is again

sitting in this box.


While this was going on my second pair, who would not

settle down in the general aviary, was admitted and, before long,

had built a nest in a dead Thuja borealis , just about two feet from

the ground. On August 30, moved by a strong impulse in a

moment of weakness, I examined the nest, and found that it

contained two or three eggs (I thought three, but may have been

mistaken) and one nestling quite recently hatched. About this

time it was very wet and cold. On September n, I again

examined the nest and found two eggs and one backward nest¬

ling, backward that is if it was the same I had seen before; but

it is not impossible that the first had died and that this one had

been hatched later. In either case I feel satisfied that the very

cold weather had much to do with the general unsatisfactory

state of Painted-Finch affairs.


Towards the end of August a third pair—an old female

and a new male—had been loosed into the aviary; and on this

second visit I found that these two birds had also built in the

dead thuja, a little above and actually touching the first nest.

One point of etiquette had been observed, however; the aperture



