tf(i 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



shrub on the mar Tin of the forest about three feet above 

 tho ground. 



" A boy brought me a young one in full feather ; it 

 was somewhat like a female, but less distinctly marked. 



" These birds are easily captured at certain seasons 

 by means of trap-cages. I had specimens alive at 

 various times, but they usually escaped or got injured, 

 so I had none to bring home. 



" In winter-time in Arauco I frequently saw thein 

 feeding on the topnio.st twigs of low forest trees, just 

 like a flock of Siskins do here on the alder. They com- 

 mence to sing at Maqucoqua (Arauco) about the begin- 

 ning of August, and sin^ a good deal through the 

 summer. Their song is very pleasing and much 

 esteemed. Their call-note is the double whistle of the 

 Siskin. They prefer wooded districts, are not found in 

 very open localities, and aopeir capable of finding sub- 

 sistence in the forest for a large portion of the year, if 

 not altogether." 



This species has been exhibited at the lyondon Gardens 

 in 1875, 1886, and 1890, but Russ does not include it in 



Black-headed Siskin. 



his work under the name of C. Imrhata, but has resur- 

 rected for it the name of C. maryinalis. 



Black-he.\ded SiSKm {Chrr/somilris icterka)- 



Above pale olive-green; wings black, with the excep- 

 tion of the lesser coverts ; a broad yellow belt across 

 the base of the flights ; rump yd'ow ; upper tail-coverts 

 olive-green ; tail yellow at the base and black at the 

 extremity ; entire head, including throat, black ; under 

 surface bright yellow. Female duller and without black 

 on head. "Habitat, Brazil and Argentine Republic to 

 Chili. , ^ 



In its wild state this species is more wmmonly met 

 with in inhabited districts than in woods, being espe- 

 cially fond of poplar groves, and usually building its 

 nest in a poplar ; its favourite seeds are those of the 

 sow-thistle and lettuce, on which plants it may usually 

 be seen when their .seeds are ripening. 



Like our Siskin, this species is extremely restless, 

 and travels in small companies, usually consisting of 

 about a dozen individuals. The nest is generally place^l 

 on a smail br.inch, at its junction with the trunk of the 

 tree and is timilv and neatlv built, with a lining of 

 hair', down, or feathers. The eggs are five in number, 

 thin-shelled, and pure white. 



The song is very sweet, and jertainly superior to 

 that of the European bird. Unfortunately, it rarely 

 arrives in this country in good condition, so that many 

 6]>ecimens die before thej' have been long in captivity ; 

 they are also never very cheap. I imported a specimen 

 in 1893, but it arrived in such ill-health that it only 

 lived three davs after it re:wlied nie. 



Mr. A. H. Holland (The IhU, 1892, p. 197) says :— 

 " Very common throughout the year, and in flocks 

 immediately after nesting. Has a melodious twitter. 

 Breeds lat« in November, and i.s easily tamed." 



-Mr. 0. V. Aplin, writing on the birds of Uruguay 

 (T'/ie Ibif, 1894, pp. 170-171), says : ^Common, especi- 

 ally about the qurntas of estancia houses, and resident 

 to a certain extent, but jx>sfibly not entirely so; they 

 certainly become much less common in theautumn. They 

 are fond of feeding on the seeds of different tall plants, 

 and I have seen them clinging to a yellow-flowered 

 composite, and especially to a blue-and-red-flowered 

 Boraginaceous plant called /lor mora<la, just as we see 

 Goldfinches clinging to thistles in England. The song 

 is very like that of the f^nglish Siskin (speaking only 

 from a knowledge of the song of the latter as a cagea 

 bird), but rather more powerful, and reminding one 

 sometimes of the Goldfinch's. This is quite one of the 

 best song-birds of the country, and the song always 

 seemed to carry one back to the Old World. Building 

 was in full swing in November. On the 15th I knew 

 of three nests in construction, and one finished. Three 

 of these were in young poplars, the fourth in a Finus 

 inxiijnis, the former in the first fork of the branches, 

 8 or 9 feet from the ground. They were formed of 

 grass, wool, lichen, etc., and lined with hair. The 

 next day the house-peon .■■howed me a quite inaccessible 

 nest, some 10 or 12 feet up a big organ cactus lor /i;/i«) 

 near the kitchen. Siskins were in song at the end of 

 .January. The local name is ' Silgero.' " 



According to Russ, this bird is extremely rarely im- 

 ported, but in England I have seen it several timeii. It 

 has been exhibited at the London Gardens. Dr. Russ 

 describes Chrysomitris laurencii, but I cannot find that 

 it has ever reached the European market. 



Hooded Siskin {Chrysomiii-is cunillata). 



Above vernviJion, brighter on the lower back, rump, 

 and upper tail-coverts ; the head black ; wing-<x)verts 

 vermilion, black at base, the greater coverts so broadly 

 that only the tips retain the red colouring; other wing- 

 feathers black, the flights, excepting the inner second- 

 aries, red at base, but with black shafts ; the inner 

 secondaries with the extremities of the outer webs 

 edged with whitish or reddish ; tail black, pale ver- 

 milion at base ; throat black ; sides of neck and under- 

 pants chiefly vermilion, but the abdomen and thighs 

 white ; under tail-coverts white-tipped ; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries ashy at base ; flights black, pale 

 vermilion at base. Female altogether L'reyer. not black ; 

 the back .slightly washed with vermilion in front, the 

 lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts bright ver- 

 milion ; the red on the wings more orange in tint ; the 

 lores and »hin whitish ; sidej< of face and throat ashy 

 grey ; breast orange-vermilion : abdomen, thighs, and 

 under tail -coverts white ; sides and flanks brownish 

 ashy ; under wing-cnverts and axillaries whitish, the 

 lower ones reddish at base. Habitat. "Venezuela and^ 

 Trinidad. Introduced into Cuba and Porto Kico." 

 (Sharpe.) 



I can discover no published notes on the wild life 

 of this beautiful Si.skin ; but happily, although a rarely 

 imported bird, and particularly in the English market, 

 Mr. Heer of Striegau and later Dr. Huss succeeded 



