78 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



on the inner webs of the flights ; tail below 

 black, a large wliite patch on the inner webs 

 of the two outermost feathers ; bill and feet black. 

 Female above f;rej--gre€n, the front and rump yellower; 

 below also yellower, ashy at centre of breast and 

 abdomen; flanks and under tail-coverts jKile yellor>v; 

 under wing-coverts and inner nnrgins of wing-feathers 

 whitish. Habitat, (iaiana. Brazil, Faraway, Bolivia, 

 •and Eastern Peru : the Guianan form being typical, the 

 others being fiubdividcd into two or three local races 

 or sub-species. 



Respecting this species also T have found no notes 

 on the life-history. The Zoological Society purchased 

 a male in August" 1892. The n.ime appears to nie mis- 

 leading ; it applies better to the female than the male. 



Dwarf Tanager (Euphonia minuta). 



Glossy greenish black, purplish on neck and irpper 

 "back; a broad yellow front:iI band; throat purjjli.ih 

 black ; breast and front of abdomen yellow ; hinder 

 abdomen and under tail-coverts white ; under wing- 

 coverts and inner webs of flights white ; tail below 

 black, the inner webs of three outer feathers with a 

 con.'^piouous white jiatch ; bill leaden grey; feet black. 

 Female above olivegrecn, below yellowish olive; throat 

 and centre of abdomen ashy white. Habitat, Guiana, 

 Ix)wer Ania7X>nia, Colombia, Panama, and Central 

 America up to Guatemala. (Sclater.) 



I can discover nothing respecting the wild life of this 

 little Tanager. Captain Pam brought home a pair from 

 Venezuela in 1906 and presented them to the London 

 Zoological Society.- 



Violet Tanager {Euplionia violacea). 



Above, forehead and front of the crown bright yellow ; 

 the cheeks, back of neck, back, wings, and t-ail puq)lisli 

 bhie-black; the under surface bright yellow, the legs 

 and beak black, the upper mandible produced into a 

 curved point ; iris of ej-e hazel. Female above olive- 

 green, below yellowish olive; wing-feathers white at 

 base of inner webs. Habitat, Guiana, Trinidad, Lower 

 Amazonia, and S.E. Brazil. According to Bui-meister 

 an inhabitant of the whole forest region of Brazil ; he 

 says that he found it abundantly a.t New Freiburg, as 

 the bird is nowhere rare, and yet he gives no infonnation 

 respecting its habits. Mr. W. A. Forbes (The Ibis. 1881, 

 p. 331) savs tb.it he found it sparingly botb in gardens 

 and in the vicinity of high forest, and he adds; — ■ 

 " This bird is kept commonly as a cage-bird bv the 

 T?razilians, who call it 'Guarratan,' a name, as already 

 observed, also applied to several other small brightly 

 phunaged birds." 



R.u.=s, quoting apparently from Mangelsdorff. though 

 he does not say so, observes: — "In freedom the little 

 •^ird is uncommonly lively and quick : sometimes when 

 flying, and if it is leaping about on the fruit-trees one 

 miT h*^.ar its short tuneful call note. Its fond con.sists 

 of all kinds of fruit, and should the ' Organists'* after 

 the breeding-season unite into flights or sw.arms they 

 are cipa-ble nf accomplishing <'onsiderable damage to 

 banana, orange, and other like fruit-troes, inasmuch as 

 they arc vor.acious feeders. The nest is formed in ,a 

 dense thicket, or in a tangle of <'reepfrs. usuallv large 

 and not verv neatly, of grass-stalks, fibres, fine tendrils 

 and tufts nf cotton and lined with delic.-ite stalks. The 

 clutch consists of three to five beautifullv coloured and 

 marked verv thin-shelled eggs." (I'remdl. Stubenv., II., 

 p. 434.) 



Tho colouring of the eggs is not mentioned ; but there 

 is a long quotation from Mangi'Isdorff respecting the 



* German trivial ramo for all the Euphonice. 



wild foods of the bird, its charming song and power of 

 mimicking the songs of other birds. 



In captivity this Tanager is tolerably amiable, and, 

 according to the lute Mr. Abrahams, "a magnificent 

 song.ster." Of this I can say nothing, inasmuch as 

 although in 1897 I had the ojrportunity of purchasing 

 this pretty little bird at a fairly reasonable price (that 

 is, alK>'.it dout)le the usual German charge for the species), 

 I already possessed the far more beautiful Superb 

 Tanager, and therefore was not tempted to undertake . 

 another fruit-eating cage-bird; but it seems to me 

 hardly likelv that the generic name of Euphunia 

 (" pleasant sounding ") would have been given to a group 

 of birds unless at least some of them were known to 

 warble sweetly. The evidence of various owners of this 

 bird varies somewhat ss to the merit of its song, but 

 we well kno'w that individuals of a sjjecies differ con- 

 siderably in talent. 



TmcK-niLLED Tanager [Euphonia laniirostris). 



Glossy blue-black, frontal half of head, extending to 

 behind the eyes and rounded at back, a.s well as under 

 surface of body, bright yellow; wings below black, with 

 a large basal white patch on the inner webs of the 

 feathers ; tail below black, with a large white patch, not 

 quite extending to the tips, on the inner weos of the 

 two outer feathers; bill and feet blick. Female above 

 olive-green, below yellowish green, brighter on middle 

 of abdomen and under tail-coverte. Habitat, Costa 

 Rica, Veragua, Panama. Colombia, Venezuela, Upper 

 Amazonia, Peru, and Bolivia. 



I have no notes as to the wild life of the species,* 

 but it would doTjbtless greatly resemble that of the 

 Violet Tanager; with which, according to Russ, it has 

 certainly been confounded by dealers. He says that in 

 1893 the wholesale de:iler E. Reiche sent three examples 

 i<> him for identification; they were not, however, in 

 full adult colouring, >ind so he could not at first make 

 anything of them ; liter he identified them at the 

 Zoologica.l Museum of Berlin. Apparently he kept a 

 paiir of these birds, whicTi. liefore six months bad passed, 

 went to nest, but without residt. 



This species was obtain. d bv the London Zoological 

 Society in 1872, 1878, 1679, 1890, 1892, and 1906. 



Pectoral Tanager (Euphonia pectoralis). 



Above glossv blue black; throat and breast the same 

 colour; the latter with a yellow p:i!ch on each side; 

 abdomen deep chestnut; wings below black with white 

 coverts; tail below black; bill black; feet dark brown. 

 Female al)Ove bright olive-green with a large dark grey 

 patch on the nape ; below, throat and breast grev ; sides 

 of breast and abdomen olive-green ; under tail-coverts 

 clei'- rufous. Hafttat, Wood-region of S.E. Brazil 

 (Sclater). Bumiei.ster only tells us that this bird " ha.s 

 its home in the entire wooded region of Brazil, and is 

 nowhere rare." Mangelsdorff says that it loves the 

 forest, but occurs everywhere else like the Violet 

 Tanager, and that its wild life is similar. 



Russ says that in 1875 he received a male from Miss 

 Hapenhcck, of Hamburg, and in the same year it 

 reached the Tjondon Zoological Gardens. Paul Mangels- 

 dorff in 1889 brought heme a male from Brazil, but it 

 shortly afterwards died; whether it has since appeared 

 in the market I am unable to say. 



Bi,ArK-nELHED Tanager {Euphonia cat/ana). 



Gloss.v bluish-black. wHth a yellow patch on each side 

 of the breast ; under i\-ing-coverts and inner margins 

 of flight.^ white; bill black; feet dark bri>«-n. Female 

 above bright greenish olive, with a dark grev patch 

 on the nape; below grey; chin and sides of body below 



