148 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



median and greatt-r wing-coverts paler r.t tips ; rest of 

 win^; and tail-feathers dnsky brown, with olive-brown 

 margins ; lores and feathers round eye bright buff ; oar- 

 coverts paler olive-browii than rest of head ; cheeks, 

 throat, and. fore-neck pale buff; centre of breast aiid 

 abdomen whiter; sidra, flanlcji. thiglis, and under tad- 

 coverts briglit butf ; under wing-coverts and axillaries 

 sliBhtly more olivaceous; flights a littk paler than an 

 male, "but similar. Rnb., Upper Amazons, Guiana, 

 Venezuela, ;ui<l Colombia. 



I have foimd no account of the wild life of this 

 sp. cies. In 1906 four examples were pTesente<l to the 

 Liindon Zoological Society by Mr. K. AV. Harjier and 

 two by Capt. Albert Pain. In Xuveniber, 1907, ^U: 

 Harper sent me a specimen as a present. Mr. 

 Page has also had a specimen. The song is 

 low-pitched, commencing with a trill, pr-r-r-r-it-fil. 

 and finishing with a ch'tr, rheer, chit; it sounds like 

 r. crowd of .Spirrows quan-elling in the distance. 



Lined Finxh (Spcrinojihila lineola). 



Upper surface glossy greenish-black, ,i broad longi- 

 tudinal stripe on the front of the head, one on each 

 cheek, a spot on the inner primaries forming a small 

 oblong patch when the wings aic closed, another on the 

 secondaries concealed by the coverts, the rump and 

 uiider surface more or le-^s white, beak black, feet leaden 

 gre>y, iris brown. The female is greyi.sh-oiive, the npptn- 

 darker than the umV'r surface. Hab., Brazil, Guiana, 

 and Venezuela. Inhabits the outskirts of woods, 

 espedally near settlements, according to Burmeister; 

 and that is all the information I have come across re- 

 specting the wild life. 



Tht^' SjKniio/ihilu apiKars not to be very freely 

 imported, and I have never myself seen it at any 

 dealers. A male was given to me some years auo which 

 sang much in the style of the White-throated Finch, but 

 unhaiijjily it did not live long, and died in poor 

 plumage,' .so that the .skin wa.s not worth preserving. 



Weaving Finches (Phoniparintc). 



I proposed this divison of the Frini/illi(}(r for the genus 

 I'hnni para, on account of its habit of constructing a 

 globular nest with front entrance, after the manner of 

 the Ploceid Finches; it also resembles many of the 

 latter in its insignificant little song and its sociable 

 habits. (See The Avirvllural Magazine, N.S., Vol. IV., 

 pp. 153-4.) The genus Mrlopi/rrha will also have to be 

 refarred to this sub-family. 



Bi..\CK Si-.ED-FINCH [Mrlopj/rrha nirjra). 



Glossy black ; a narrow white stripe down the wing, 

 consisting of the ba<-tard wing, the base of the primary- 

 coverts and the edge- of the inner primaries; axillaries 

 and under wing-coverts also white; quills b"lo\v white 

 along base of inn:?r web. Female of a <leader browner 

 black; otherwise sitnil.ir in plumage. Hab.. Cuba, 

 Gnndlnch st'itcs that this bird is common in Cuba, living 

 in piirs during the breeding season, but afterwards in 

 family parties in woods and bushes an their outskirts. 

 "Its food consists of various seeds ,and berries, perh.ips 

 also occa.sionally of insects. In tho period between April 

 and .luly the bird builds a more or less globular nest 

 with side entrance of dry plants and leaves, hair, 

 1)rislles, little feathers and rootlets, among creepers, on 

 trcs. or between tho, many forks of a branch. The 

 clutch consists of three or four eggs. Its delicate song 

 is admire<l by the inhabitants, therefore they catch it 

 freo.ly and keep it in cages where they feed upon canarv- 

 eeed and coar.s© maize meal. I have also seen an albino 



which was not black but coloured greyish white." 

 (Vi<h Russ, Fremdl. Stubenv., I., p. 659.) 



Russ says that up to 1877 this bird w^as very rarely 

 ol)tainable from tire doaleis; in the cour.se of years he 

 only saw one male in the Berlin Aquarium, and received 

 iinother from the dealer Gudera of Leipzic. Then Mr. 

 Wiener sent him one for identification, and aliout tho 

 -^anie time Miss Hagenbeck of Hamburg received a good 

 number. The I.«ndon Zoological {Society first received it 

 in 1868. It appears to be peaceable amd long-lived. 



CrB.\N Finch [Phonipara canora).* 



The male above is yellowish-green ; the base of fore- 

 head, sides of face, chin, and throat black, bounded 

 behind by a broad crescentic yellow belt, which extends 

 to al ove the eye. This ds followed by a border of 

 black on the front of the bre.i-st ; the wing .•>nd tail 

 feathers dusky, edged with yellowish or green ; under 

 parts slaty-grey, the under fciil-coverts tipped with 



Cur.AN Finches. 



yellowish white. Beak lilack; feet light brownisih-grey ; 

 irides bro\^-n. 



The female has the face and throat chestnut instead 

 of black, and has the crown .of the ho;id greyish brow/n ; 

 otherwise it is not unlike the male. Hab., Cuba. 



The species oi the genus Phonipara build dome<i 

 nests with entrance tube directed downwards from a 

 hole in the front, constructed of drj' gra.sses with 

 .1 finer lining often of the same material. These 

 nests, therefore, in every respect res<»mible those of the 

 true Weaving Finches [Phirridm) ; they also sometimes 

 lay ])ure white and unniarked eggs, though at other 

 times the eggs are tinted with bluith-green and specked 

 towards the larger end witli reddish or Irown. I have 

 no doubt that they are more nearlj- related to the Old 

 World Weaving Finches than to any of the true Finches 

 {Frin(iilli(l(i) . ina.smnch as the sup]y>sed absence of the 

 tiny tenth quill whir'O) used to be regarded as the most 

 iniporiant distinguishing feature l»twoen the two 

 f.amilies, is a chariictcr which at once breaks down upon 

 examination. 



The Cuban Finch makes a ma^ attractive addiUon 



• Rung polntfl out tfio refationsfiip of Phonipara to the WnxbllfB ; 

 orobaftly lie was tliinkine e.ipecinlly of <Joccopy<iia : to mj mind it 

 is iiiucli more like ttie Grasstinches. 



