SEED-EATERS. 



107 



Finches. Therefore, whilst I will not be so bold as to 

 say that males of the T)ak' type may not occur, I should 

 bednclined to regard them as probaljly the early plumaf;e 

 of the species ; and dark hens, if they e.xist, might 

 represent the senile plumage. I c;in hardly think it 

 po.ssible that two species so closely i-elate<l could co-c.xist 

 in the same regions, for they would infallibly interbreed, 

 as the}' certainly do in captivity, and probably produce 

 fertile offspring. 

 White-throated Sekd-EjVter {Serinus albigularis). 



Greyish wood-brown, with slightly darker centres to 

 the feathers; rump ami uT)i«>r tail-coverts olivaceous 

 yel'ow; wing and tail feathers dark brown with pale 

 margins ; eyebrow-stripe and cheeks white ; below mou.se- 

 brown ; throat, centre of abdomen, and under tail-coverls 

 white; under wing-coverts partly tipped with white; 

 beak horn-brown, paler at base of lower mandible; feet 

 flesh-brownish ; irides brown. Ftmale rather smaller 

 and duller. Habitat, Cape Colony. 



In Stark and Sclater's "Birds of South Aft-ica," Vol. I., 

 pp. 175, 176, are the folio iving note.s on the habits of 

 the species: — " Tiiis large and soberly coloured Seed- 

 eater is very common to the north of Cape To^vn, 

 especially towards Saldanha Bay, a locality in which 

 Layard noticed its abundance in his time. Here it 

 inhabit* the bneh-overgrown sand-dunes close to the 

 lieach, and foed.s on the seeds of several of the more 

 common wee<ls. In spring tlie cocks sing loudly and 

 melodiously from the tops of the bufhes, their song 

 being, to my eai'. superior to that of the Cap; Canary. 

 Alx>ut the beginning of September they proceed to build 

 their nests, open cupsliaped structures, in the bushes, 

 freiiuently in a " milk-bu.<;h " about four feet above the 

 ground. These are rather loosely constructed of thin, 

 pliable twigs and diy gi:ass-stems, and are invariably 

 lined with the white downy blossf>ms of a common weed. 

 Towards the end of the month the females lay three 

 or four- eggs of a very faint bluish white, sometimes 

 plain, more often spa.ringly marked at the large end with 

 one or two spots or haJT-like streaks of deep purplish- 

 black. They average 0.80 by 0.60. 



"Both the male and female sit very closely on their 

 eggs, and defend their nest valiantly against aggressors. 

 On almcst every occasion on which I have inspected a 

 nest of this bird I have liad my fingers pecked for my 

 pains, and with their powerful" bills they can inflict a 

 severe bite. On one occasion I saw a" pair of these 

 Finches attack a large snake with great coura?e and 

 success. 



"The young are fed on insects and macerated seeds 

 from the crops of the old birds. They remain in the 

 nest for a little more than a month." 



About 1895 my old colleague Dr. Sharpe gave me an 

 ex;miple of this species which he ha.d owned for some 

 little time, but which I believe on one occasion had 

 escaped from its cage and injured its skull by flying 

 against the ivindow; it never sang a note and I mar"- 

 velled that Dr. Rnss should sjjeak of it as a lovely 

 singer, but after its death on April 24th, 1896. I dis- 

 covered that it was a han. I think it probable tliat it is, 

 as Stark says, a very melodious song.ster, but it is 

 certainly no beauty ; it has the beak and general colour- 

 ing of a I>ondon hen .Sparrow with just a touch of the 

 Greenfinch on its rump and upper tail-coverts. 



Grky Singing-fi.vch (Serlnux leucopi/ifius). 



Above ashy-broATO -.vith darker brown centres to the 

 feathers, the head greyer than the back; feathers of 

 lower back blackish-brown with greyish tip^ : rump 

 white; lesser wmg-eoverts pale hrownish-ash; remainder 

 of wing and tail-feathers dark brnuTi with pale margins ; 



throat a.shy whitish ; breast pale brownish-ash slightly 

 mottled with dusky ; bre;i6t and abdomen white slightly 

 stained with bulKsh, washed at the sides with ashy and 

 streaked with dusky; beak pale fleshy horn-colour; feet 

 flesh-coloured ; irides brown. Habitat, Noi-th-lvastem 

 an<i ^^(luatorial Africa. 



The female of this siJecies has not lieen diiferentiated 

 in scientific works; it is a trifle smaller tlmn the male, 

 and generally (if not always) rather more distinctly 

 streakcNl with dusky on the sides and flanks. 



In Capt. Shelley's "Birds of Africa," Vol. III., pp. 

 216, 217, we re.;ixi: — " Heuglin met with the species in 

 the Bongo couutrj-, which is watered by the Gazelle 

 river. At the Blue Nile he found a nest wliich was 

 cup-sliaijed and deep inside, it was conslrucU'd of a 

 kind of hemp mixed with hairs and see<l-down and 

 lined with feiither^, hair and down. It was placed 

 about Ave feet from the ground, and conUiined three 

 eggs, wliich were pale greenish grey spotte'* at the 

 thick end w ith brownish red and dusky brown ; they 

 measured 0.6 by 0.46. In this district, near Senaar, it 

 frequents the native villages and the surrounding 

 pasture-land, and may be seen in flocks feeding on the 

 ground, or perched on blushes or rocks near water." 



I am afraid Von Heuglin was a bit careless in ascer- 

 taining the ownership of the nests which he discovered. 

 The eggs of the Grey Singing-finch are familiar to many 

 aviculturists, to me among others ; for, although I have 

 never succeeded in breeding the species, I have on several 

 occasions got as far as nests and eggs ; the latter are 

 creamy or j>early white, sometimes with a few small 

 black spots at the larger end. 



The .strength of voice in this sweet singer and its 

 energj- have often astonished me; though no larger than 

 a Zebra Finch it will sit upon a branch and sing away 

 almost iricessintly hour after hour, pouring forth a 

 melody not unlike that of the St. Helena Seed-eater, 

 but, at the same time, more varied and better sustained. 

 It is a gentle, nen'ous little bird, and, though it looks 

 delicate, is tolerably hanly ; it will readily build a neat 

 and compact little open nest on the floor of a German 

 C.anai-y cage in an indoor aviaiy, and lay four or five 

 little pure wliite eggs; provided that the hen does not 

 succumb to egg-binding, to which I have found it liable, 

 the Grey Singing-finch will rear its young on the same 

 diet as a Canarj-. 



The flight is extremely graceful and pretty, remind- 

 ing one somewhat of that of a white butterfly. To see 

 it to perfection two or three cock birds should be kept 

 tugether In a large aviary, for, although they will 

 figlit and sing alternately from morning to night, all 

 the fighting takes place on the wing, and, beyond the 

 loss of a few small feathers, very little liarm is done. 

 There is no malice in it, for directly after a (»mbat the 

 biixls may be seen feeding side by side at the same 

 hopper. Before and after a fight the birds will often 

 sit on different branches singing against one another. 

 The music is exceedingly rapid and melodious, without 

 one unplea.«ant note ; indeed there is no other Finch, 

 whether British or foreign, which I have heaixi, that 

 can compete with this tiny songster ; Mr. Teschemaker 

 however says that the allied Yellow-rumped Serin sur- 

 passes it. 



YELLOW-RUjrPED OR AnGOL.\ SeRIN" 

 (Serinus an/jolensis). 

 Closely resembles the preceding species excepting that 

 it has the rump yellow inetead of white, the forehead 

 brownish white, a slightly bromier tint above and faint 

 washes of yellow on the primaries and axillaries. The 

 female has" not been differentiated in scientific works. 



