122 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



identical. " Of the latter species he writes :— " Near the 

 mouth of the Columbia I found a nest of thus bird in 

 June, 1854. It was built in a bush, not mure than a 

 foot from the ground, foraied of gras.ses neatly inter- 

 woven, and lined with softer materials. The eggs, if 

 my memory of them is correct, were four or tive' in 

 number, white, with thinly scattered dark spots near the 

 large end. 



"The .song of this species is loud but short, and 

 remarliably melancholy. It may Ix. heaaxl during the 

 whole year at intervals^ and fr.quejitly at nigljt, when its 

 sad tone seems peculiarly suited to the darkness." 



Russ £a,TO "the bird appears vei-y rarely in the 

 market"; it has apjie.ared at the London Zoolo>,Mcal 

 Gardens. In 1904 Mr. Seth-Smith was able to borrow 

 a male of Z. leurophry.<. which he paired up with a 

 femaio Z. pilenta; the birds went to nest in May and 

 reared one young bird, -ii-ent to iiost again in June and 

 reared thiee While in their nestling plmnage the 

 young were not much to look at, but in their aJuU 

 plumage were rather pleasing. 



Grey-headed Soxg-Sp.\hhovv (Zonotrichia caiiicapilla). 



AWe bro\ra ; the miontle, upper back and scapuhirs 

 broadly streaked with black ; lower back and rump more 

 ashy and without streaks; lesser wingccverts ash-grey; 

 medjan and greater corerts black, rufescent extenially 

 white tipped ; flights blackish, primaries edged with 

 Aihitish. secondaries withches-tnut ; upper tail-coverts 

 and tad-feathers blackish- brown, the margins more ashy; 

 outer tail-feathers with whitish fringes ; head ash-grey, 

 the forehead and eyebrow-stripe whiter; lores, feathers 

 below eye, and ear-coverts blackii^h, the latter washed 

 witli ashy and streaked with whitish, black along upper 

 margin to sides of neck; the latter and collar at back of 

 neck cheHnut. as well as the sides of the breast; a 

 large white patch behind enr-coverts ; cheeks and throat 

 white, the foi-mer and the chin dusky at base of 

 feathers; a black iratch at back of throat; breast ashy; 

 abdomen and under tail-c-overts yellowish-white; sides 

 of breast and flanks more or less red-brown ; 'tbigh.s 

 ashr with whitish tips to feathers; under wing-coverts 

 whitish, du.sky at base ; axillaries pale yellowish brown ; 

 flights dusky with ashy margins to the inner webs ; beak 

 black or biown'sh flesh-coloured; feet light grey or 

 brownish fleish-cnloured ; irides pale amber.* The female 

 has not been differentiated, but is probably sliirhtlv 

 duller. Habitat, Patagonia. " " 



Dr. E. Lounbcrg. in an acooumt of " Birds from N.W 

 Argentina and the Boli\nan Chaco " {The 7fri.--. 1903, 

 p. 451), .says of this species :—" Iris yellowish brown! 

 Very common at Moreno, feeding on see<Is and inserts; 

 It builds its nest in stone walls and under the roofs of 

 houses." He however exi>iains that the IMoroiio 

 ^ecimens "ore to a certain extent intemtediafe between 

 Z. pilrala and Z. cnnirapilla, having the coloration of 

 the former and especially the black bands on the sides 

 of the crr.wn ; but they are much larger than Z. pileala 

 almost attaining the siz* of Z. rainrapiUa and I there- 

 fore refer them to that .species." T should have thooight 

 size Kss import,ant than colour ,and pattern. 

 ^,9^ *'^^''''''' ^- '•""icapilla Mr. M. J. Nicoll says {The 

 Ih,.':, 1904, p. 42):— "This Finch is ver^• common at 

 Punta Arenas, where I found it among" tlie barbeiry 

 bushes. Its call-rofce resembled that of our Yellow- 

 hammer. 



On j;une 25th, 1897 (as recorded in Th« AviruUural 

 Maoaz,,,,. Ui .ser.. Vol. III., ji. 197), a sjiecimen of this 

 rare Pa tagonian bird was brought to me by Captain 



• r noted this crflour in the livin? bird.— A. G. B. Mr. M. .T 

 Wicoi] speaks of them as "dark brown"; perhaps they vary 



Carvosso, on board of whose ship it flew when a hundred 

 miles south of Cape Horn ; he brought it to me to dis- 

 cover what it was and whence it came. I recognised it 

 at orce as a near relative of Z. pileala, but differing in 

 its unstriped crown and pale amber irides. 



Captain Carvosso kindly gave me the bird in order 

 that I might have an opjKirtunity to study it in cap- 

 tivity, but on condition that as soon as it died it should 

 be given to the museum authorities. 



Although in good plumage, the bird seemed dull and 

 listless, having evidently been fed upon unnatural food 

 since its capture. I took it homa and turned it into a 

 spacious flight-cage ; here it flew heavily, swallowed a 

 little giiit and a few canary-seeds, but seemed very dull 

 and stupid. The introduction of a few mealworms and 

 cockroaches partly aroused it, .so that it erected its crest 

 and hopped after one of the latter, but it evidently felt 

 too ill to exert itself, and presently returned heavily to 

 its iperch. In the morning it was dead, and I ha^ to 

 take it back to town with me ; it was disappointing. 



Chingolo Song-Sp.\rro\v {Zonotrichia pileala). 



The male bird has the upper part of the head and 

 nape and the cheeks ash-grey, boldly and longitudinally 

 striped with black; superciliary area slightly whiter 

 than the rest of the ground colour, sides and back of 

 neck liver-reddish, back and wings ruddy brown, with 

 bold black shaft-slripes to the feathers, lower back and 

 tail smoky brown, the tail-feathers With paler borders, 

 lesser wing-coverts ash-grey, darker towaids the base 

 of the feathers, median and greater coverts dark brown, 

 with paler margins anj white tips, under parts greyish- 

 white, washed with brownish on the breast and abdo- 

 men, and with brown on the flanks ; beak greyish brown, 

 the lower mandible paler, feet dull flesh-brown, iris dark 

 brown. 



The female is slightly larger than the male, but very 

 similar in plumage. Habitat, Central America from 

 Mexico to Panama, and throughout South America to 

 South Brazil, Bolivia, and Child. 



Mr. Hudson says of this species (" Argent. Ornith.," 

 Vol. I., pp. 58, 59) : — "The common, familiar, favourite 

 Sparrow over a large portion of the South American 

 continent is the Chingolo. Darwin says that " it prefers 

 inhabited places, but has not attained the air of domes- 

 tication of the Englisli Sparrow, which bird in habits 

 and general anpearance it resembles." As it breeds in 

 the fields on the ground, it can never be equally familiar 

 with man. but in appearance it is like a refined copy of 

 the burly English Sparrow — more delicately tinted, the 

 throat being chestnut instead of black ; the head .smaller 

 and better proportioned, and with the added distinction 

 of a crest, which it lowers and elevates at aH angles to 

 express the various feelings affecting its busy little 

 mind. " On the treeless desert pamoas the Chingolo 

 is rarely seen, but wherever man builds a house and 

 plants a tree there it comes to keep him company, while 

 in cultivated and thickly settled districts it is exces- 

 sively abundant, and about Buenos Ayres it literally 

 swarms on the holds and plantations. They are not, 

 strictly .speaking, gregarious, but where food attracts 

 them, "or the shelter of a hedge on a cold windy day, 

 thousands are frequently .seen congregated in one place ; 

 when disturbed, however, these accidental flocks imme- 

 diately break up, the birds scattering abroad dn dif- 

 ferent directions. 



" The Chingolo is a very constant singer, his song 

 beginning with the dawn of day in spring and continuing 

 until evening ; it is very short, beini composed of a 

 chipping prelude and four long notes, three uttered in a 

 clear thin voice, the last a trill. This song is repeated 

 at brief intervals as the bird sits motionless, perched 



