SEED-EATERS. 



103 



Russ to that of a Lark. Individual birds, however, 

 even in a wild state, differ remarkably in the singing 

 powers, some beiiij; far superior to others in the rich- 

 ness and fuhiess of their notes. The cock of thia 

 species has, in confinement, been known to pair with 

 the hen of both the Common Cage Canary and the 

 Yellow-bellied Seed-eater. 



" In Capo Colony the Cape Canary usually breeds in 

 September and Octolver, in Cpper NaUl in October and 

 November. The n«>t, neiitly construcled and cup- 

 fhaped, is built in a thick low bush, of dry grass and 

 bents, with sometimes a little moss, lined with hair, 

 ieathers, and downy seeds. The eggs, three or four in 

 number, are white, faintly tinged with blue, and 

 streaked and spotted at the obtu.^e end with purplieh- 

 brown and reddish-brown. They measure 0.75 x 0.55. 



This species is also called the Grey-necked Serin, 

 ■which, perhaps, is a better name for it, when one am- 

 siders that .several other si^ecies liave borne the name 

 of Cape CVmary incorrectly. 



Some years ago Mr. Abrahams kindly sent me an old 

 male bird of this -species in order that I might become 

 acquainted with its .song, which has been greatly 

 praised. It did imf live for muiiy months after I re- 

 ceived it, but iti3 song was decidedly pleasing — a clear. 

 Tinging trill, with little variation, but no shrill notes. 

 7>ike moit of the African Serins, it was fed chiefly upon 

 oanarv and millet, certainly tlie most wholesome food 

 for Canaries, excepting when breeding or moulting, 

 ■when all Serins are the better for more variety. 



Sru'Hi'R SKKnK,\TKR ISrri II ii" ■^ulphiiialux). 



Above greeniiih-yellow, Avith blackish streaks, e.xcept- 

 ing on rump and upjjer tail-coverts and leseer wing- 

 coverts; remaining wing-'eathers blackish, with yellow 

 borders; a bro;id golden-yellow eyebrow streak; lores 

 dusky; feathers encircling eye, ear-coverts, and cheeks, 

 dull greenish ; a sjwt at base of lower mandible, a broaii 

 stripe under the ear-coverts, and the throat golden- 

 yellow ; .sides of neck, breiist, and sides of body pale 

 greenish-yellow ; remainder of under surface yellow ; 

 flights below dusky, with the inner margins grey; 

 upper mandible dull yellowish, lower mandible pale 

 yellow; feet dull brown; irides haze!. Female smaller 

 and duller, the yellow stripe on the face smaller and 

 duller. Habitat, Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, 

 Natal, the Trausv.nal, and northward on the east side 

 of Africa to Masai Land. 



Messrs. Stark and Sclater say (" Birds of South 

 Africa," Vol. I., p. 170) : "This large and conspicuously- 

 coloured Seed-eater is rather common in many parts of 

 Cape Colonv, bolh on ojien pasture hnd and in bushy 

 localities. In winter these birds form considerable 

 flocks, often joining with other Finches to search for 

 seeds on the irround. The principal part of their food, 

 however, consists of small berries and their seeds ; tlie 

 latter they crack with their powerful bills for the sake 

 of the kernels. In spring the males sine delightfully, 

 their notes beint? both nowerful and mellow ; for this 

 reason they are frequently kept as cage-birds, and even 

 exported to F.urope. Tlie nest, ii.sually built in Seotem- 

 Iver in Cape Colonv. is a small nnd neat cup-shaped 

 .structure, and is nearly always placed in a low bnsh, 

 rarelv more than 4ft. above the ground. It h con- 

 structed outwardly of drv grass-stems and the smaller 

 staaks of plants, and is lined with finer grass and cot- 

 tony down. The ecss. generally four in number, are 

 either white or white faintiv tinged with blue; about 

 one-half of them are unsputted ; the remaining h>lf 

 Tiave a few deep black .spots, or one or two zig-zag mark- 



ings towards the larger end. They are usually some- 

 what elongated, and tapering towards the smaller ex- 

 tremity. They average 0.85 by 0.60. 



" Incubation lasts lor tourteen days, and the young 

 remain in the nest for from three to four weeks. During 

 this periiMl they ar<' fed en insectii and on the contents 

 of the crofxs of the parent birds." 



Thougli common in some parts of South Africa, this 

 bird is rare in the bird-market, and not cheap. Mr. 

 Abrahams sent me a male in November, 1899*, and I 

 turned it into a tlight-cage with a hen Canary ; it 

 seemed pleased to have even so much liberty after being 

 confined in a small cage, and whistle<l a tew note', 

 hardly worthy of the name of a song, but afterwards 

 became quite mute. A.s it never showed any inclination 

 to breed, I subsequently turned it out into a moderate- 

 sized aviary with the other birds. It struck m? as being 

 a particularly stupid, silent, but quite inoffensive bird. 

 It -died early in 1901. 



In November, 1906 Lieut. Horobrugh sent me two 

 Serin-tinches, one of which sang verv prettily ; both were 

 probably aberrant forms of the following : — 



St. Helena Sked-k.vter {Seriiius Aarii^cnlris). 



Alxjve the crown is greenish-yellow, with dusky spot?, 

 the mantle and back yellowish-green streaked with 

 black ; the rump yellow ; lesser wing-coverts greenish- 

 yellow, the remaining wing-featliers blackish-brown, 

 with yellow borders; tail-feathers similar; forehead 

 and a" broad eyebrow-stripe, as well as feathers en- 

 circling eve golden yellow ; lores dusky ; ear-coverts 

 greenish-vellow ; cheeks and entire under surface golden 

 yellow ; " beak horn-coloured, the upper mandible 

 dusky ; feet dusky brownish ; irides hazel. Female 

 much duller and browner ; the back much more heavily 

 streaked; all the yellow either replaced by green as on 

 the rump, paler yellow, as on the borders of the wing 

 and tail feathers," or greyish-white, as on the abdomen 

 and under surface of the flights; breast and flanks 

 streaked witii smokv brown. Habitat, Cape Colony to 

 the Orange Free State and the Southern Transvaal ; 

 common at Potchefstroom ; introduced into St. Helena. t 



Messrs. Stark and Sclater say ("Birds of South 

 Africa," Vol. I., pp. 171, 172) :—" Although not such 

 a favourite cage-bird as the 'Cape Can-^ne.' the 

 ' Kleine Seisje ' is by no means a despicable songster, 

 many of its notes being exceedingly true and sweet. 

 In the neighbourhoxl of Saldanha Bay. where it-^ is, 

 together with the larger Serinu." aniijiilari^^. abundant 

 among the bushes that overgrow the sandhills at the 

 back of the beach, it breeds in September. A nest found 

 on the 28th of this month, with five fresh eggs, was 

 placed in the top of a low bush about 15in. off the 

 grourid. It was slightly but neatly constructed of small 

 twigs and dry grass-bents, and was thickly lined -with 

 the cottony seeds of a bush that grew not far off. Tlie eggs 

 are of a faint blue-green ground-* olour. sparsely zoned 

 and marked at the large end with small spots of dark 

 and liuht reddish-brown. Thev measure 0.70 by 0.52." 



I pui-chased a pair of this species about 1889 or 1890. 

 and lost the hen in 1891, whereas the male was still 

 singling vigorously in 1898. The cock is a most melo- 

 dious singer, and does not produce the ear-piercing notes 

 of the Norwich Canary. In an aviary with Weavers of 

 its own size it is qirite capable of holding its own, and 

 when groundsel or other green food is supplied it will 



• He probably saw my statement, published that year in 

 " Foreijrn Binl-keepin?." that I had ncTpr possessed the species. 



t Capt.tin .Shelley has distinirnishefi tbis Viird by a eeparate 

 ii«me, rallmff it ..S. mnrehalli. but he himself thinks it may be 

 a descendant of the sliE-htly different typical form from the Cape. 



