152 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



Black-tailkd Lavender Finch 



[Lagonostida jJcrrei/ii, rar. incaiia). 



Above delicate blue-grey ; lower back and upper tail- 

 coverts deep criiiiK)ii ; flights dusky, externally edged 

 with grey: tail-feathers dull black; a black line across 

 base of "forehead, and a black streak through the eye; 

 base of chin black; sides of head and throat pale bluish 

 ashy, deejiening on lower breast axillaries and abdomen, 

 and" becoming smoky blackish on under t ail -covert s ; 

 under wing-coverts white, ashy towards edge of wing ; 

 flights below dusky with ashy inner margins ; beak 

 grey ; feet black ; irides red. Female not differentiated. 

 Hab., Natal and Zululand. 



Mr. Stark says C" B'^ds of South Africa," Vol. I., 

 pp. 101, 102) :—" Captain Sihelley found this Waxbill 

 nesting in Natal, he writes in The Jljis: 'Although it 

 is far from common at Durban, on the 8th of >Jarch I 

 took one of their nests containing two pure white eggs. 

 It was placed in a creeper overhanging the footpath, 

 and was easily reached from the ground ; in structure 

 it was very similaT to that of Eslrilda a.'<trild, though 

 emaller arid less compact, though made of the same 

 materials.' The Messrs. Woodward met with it in 

 Zululand, nesting in a small tree in tlie open country. 

 The nest, built of grass lined with feathers, contained 

 sii very small white eggs. 



" I have on several occasions found the nest of this 

 species near Pinetown, in Natal, built botb in bushes 

 and low trees. It is domed, loosely constructed of dry 

 grass and lined with feathers. The eggs, from four to 

 six in a clutch, are laid in December and March, for 

 these birds are double brooded. They are pure white, 

 and average 0.54 by 0.42. 



" The Grey Waxbill is nearly always in pairs, is very 

 tame, and feeds on the ground on grass-seeds and small 

 insects. Its note is a soft chirrup.^ 



Mr. Erskine Allon also had this species in his bird- 

 room ; coming from South Africa it would be strange if 

 it did not sometimes turn up in the bird-market, and 

 although Russ does not mention it, I should not be sur- 

 prised if it had sometimes been ignorantly sold as the 

 Common Lavender Finch. 



Common Lavender Finch {Lagonosticta carulescena). 



The male above is pearl-grey, with the lower back and 

 upper tail-coverts bright crimson-lake ; the two central 

 tail-feathers crimson, dull, excepting at the edges, and 

 with black shafts ; remaining feathers dull black, more or 

 less dull crimson on the outer web ; flights, smoky- 

 brown, with greyer outer webs ; a black loral streak 

 enclosing the eye ; cheeks, chin, and throat, pale pearl- 

 grey, deepening to sooty-grey on the abdomen, where 

 there are usually two or three white spots on the flanks ; 

 abdomen, from the thighs backwards to the vent, 

 blackish ; under tail-coverts, bright crimson ; under 

 wing-coverts, whitish-grey ; flights below, sooty grey ; 

 tail, slaty-grey; beak, black, with lateral crimson 

 streak ; legs, blackish grey ; iris, greyish olive. 



The female may be distinguished, as Mr. Abrahams 

 proved to me, by the .«:ooty rather than black 

 colouring of the hinder portion of the abdomen from 

 the thighs backwanls. Haliitat. Scnegambia. 



All that is recorded of the wild life of this common and 

 beautiful Waxbill is that it lays white eggs which 

 measure 0.62 by 0.46. As all the Waxbills lay whit* 

 eggs this does not add much to our knowledge. 



In captivity this has always been con.-^irlered one of 

 the most delicate of the Waxbills. I have repeatedly 

 purchased examples and tried to keep it both in cage 

 and aviary, yet. with one exception, have failed to 

 preserve life in it for more than a few months. This 



sin' le exception lived in one of my aviaries for about 

 fou.- years. 



As" a rule, I should judge one year to be a long term 

 for this Waxbill to survive in captivity. Five perfect 

 o.xiimph's purcluLsed in May, 1898, wore all dead 

 before the end of .June, and fronr no apparent cause. In 

 spite of this general delicacy, however, it was bred by 

 Miss Rosie Alderson in 1900, but in a heated aviary; 

 they nested three times, but only one young one was 

 reared, and the hen bird died from egg-binding while 

 laying her third clutch of eggs. 



For feeding the young Miss Alderson provided, in 

 addition to seeds, crushed biscuit, preserved yolk of egg, 

 and maw-seed, given fresh daily ; cut up mealworms, 

 some being put in over-night so as to be ready the first 

 thing in the morning, and she believes that ants' eggs 

 also were given. (Cf. 7'Ac Avicultural Magazine, 1st 

 Ser., Vol. VII., pp. 45-49.) 



Of cour.se, the species has been bred in Germany, or I 

 should think so, since it has been successfully crossed 

 with the African Fire-finch. Dr. Russ lost his sitting 

 birds through the interference of Par.son Finches. The 

 flight of the Lavender Finch is extremely rapid, which 

 ono would hardly expect from the rounded character of 

 its wings. It can hardly be .said to have a song, but 

 such notes as it utters are mostly clear and pleasing. 



Bar-breasted Fire-finch {Lagonosticta rufopicta). 



Above brown; upper tiiil-coverts deep lose-colour; 

 quills dark brown with paler outer torders ; tail brown, 

 somewhat rosy towards base of outer webe ; biise of 

 forehead, sides of head, throat, and breast rose-red, 

 paler and browner on abdomen, flanks, and thighs; 

 some tiny white bars on throat and chest ; under tail- 

 coverts white, the longer ones brown edged with white ; 

 under wing-ooverbs bright buff; flights below dusky, 

 their inner edges greyish buff; be.ik violet-red, black 

 on culmen and lower edges; feet dull reddish; eyelids 

 yellow; irides pale dull brown. Female with no trace 

 of red on wings and fewer white markings on breast. 

 Hab., " Senegambia to the Niger and Upper White Nile 

 districts." (Shelley.) 



The following notes on the wild life I take from 

 Shelley's " Birds of Africa," Vol. IV., Part 1, p. 263 : — 

 "T. E. Buckley and I found the species to be extremely 

 .ibundant during the spring of the year, near Cape 

 Coast, generally in small flocks feeding aJong the paths 

 which intersect the thick bush." 



" Heuglin . . . records it from the Djur and Kosango 

 Rivers, along the banks of which streams he met with 

 a few during the rainy season. 



"Regarding its habits Us.sher writes: — "This pretty 

 little Bengali is one of the commonest birds on the Weet 

 Coast of Africa.. It is extremely tame, frequenting 

 the vicinity of houses, and hcpping about the yards with 

 the confidence of the coamion House Sparrow in 

 Enffland. They build in low grass, on the seeds of which 

 they also feed, and are gregarious ; in the bush they will 

 associate in flocks with other Bengali." 



"According to Mr. Ku.schel the oggs are pure white 

 and measure 0.56 by 0.44. 



Dr. R'U.-ss seems to have been unaw-ire of the importa.- 

 tion of this Waxbill. and sUites that it must ever remain 

 a rarity, but in this conclusion T think he was mis- 

 taken. In 1898 the late Mr. Abraliams received a 

 tolerably large consignment, but they died off at such 

 a rate that. I am afraid he mad? little or nothing nut of 

 them; he fcnt me quite a number of the dead bodies, 

 but all verv dirty and with frayed wing and tail- 

 featheis. The species wjs exhibited at the Ci-yBtal 

 Palace in 1903 and 1904. 



