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THE


Avicultural Magazine,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF

THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY.


Third Series. —Yol. YIII.—No. 5 .—All rights reserved. MARCH, 1917.


WHYDAHS.


By W. Shore Baily.


The Whydahs best known to our aviculturalists are the

Giant, Jackson, Crimson-ringed, Bed-collared, Bed-shouldered, Para¬

dise, Queen, and Pintailed. Of these, as far as I know, only the

Giant, Jackson, Bed-collared, and Pintailed have been bred in this

country, and no details of the nesting of the last-named have been

published. They are all highly desirable aviary birds, as they are

so easy to cater for, and do not interfere with any other and smaller

birds that may be kept with them. The long tails of the males, when

these are in breeding plumage, are always a source of wonder and

delight to visitors.


My experience of the Giant Whydah ( C. procne ) is confined

to my occasional visits to the Zoo, where there are usually one or

two of these fine birds to be seen. The cock is quite a large bird,

and when in full colour, is black, the feathers on the wings being

edged with brown. A patch of scarlet on the wing-butts is very

conspicuous when the bird is in flight. Mr. Teschemaker gives a

very interesting account of the breeding of this bird in the ‘ Avicul¬

tural Magazine ’ for the year 1909. He describes the eggs as

dull greyish-white, clouded with blue, grey and purplish markings.

I hope one day to secure a pair of these Whydahs for my own

aviaries.


The Jackson Whydah (D. jacksoni) is the next largest of the

species. I got my three birds from our member, Mr. G. E. Low,


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