FIRE-FINCHES AND WAXBILLS. 



15» 



Common African Fire-pinch {Lagonosticla senegala).* 



Th© male above is rosy crimson, somewhat browner on 

 the back and on the wing-ooverts ; the tail featheiis 

 black, \v ;usluM_l with crimson on the outtr webs ; tho 

 head, throat, iuid breast rosy criuisoii, changing to bul- 

 lish hnn\n oil the abdomen; sides of bre;ist dotted with 

 white; under tiiil -coverts whit-e at b;Uj6; beak crimsoji; 

 lega dark Hesh-colour; eye-ring yellow, iris bruwii. Tho 

 female above is dark brown, aimson on the rump and 

 upper tail-cov<'rts ; i smidl crimson loral spot; under 

 surfiwe buttisli brown, clearer on the abdomen, sides 

 dotted with white ; wing brown, tail black. Hab., 

 Senegambia to the Niger. 



In its native tountiy this tiny Finch aJIects the 

 inhabited districts, being met with in small flocks dn 

 towns and villages, where it constructs its nest in holes 

 and crevices of buildings; the structure is said to be 

 untidy and inaitistic, little more than a heap of straw 

 lined with horsehair, feiithers, grjiss, ;uid wool. The 

 little white eggs vary in number from three to seven. 



I know of no Waxbill so delicate as this; indeed, I 

 liave had majiy, but nevoa- succeeded in keeping one 

 for more than eoven or eight days. They appear to die 

 without any apparent cause, however perfect their con- 

 dition. Other bird-lovers were more fortunate, but 

 personally I coihsider it mere vfaste of money to pur- 

 chase this little bird, however cheap it may be. Never- 

 theless this bird has been freely bred in Gennan bird- 

 rooms, and even in England Mr. Farrar appears to have 

 secured acclimatised examples in the summer of 1897, 

 which wintered in a cold indoor aviar.y. and in the 

 summer of 1898, built in a cocoanut Husk hung low 

 down, laid two eggs and reared one young one. 



Dr. Ruis says of it : — " Not one of the Astrilds nasts 

 po readily as this." The difficulty, however, is to get 

 acclimatised birds. 



BBOvrN-HEADED FiRE-FiNCH (Lagonosticta brunneiceps). 



Differs from L. senegala in having the head aJid nape 

 brown ; sides of bre;>st alwuys spotted with white ; beak 

 vinous red; feet reddish grev; eyelids leaden grey Tvith 

 a fine yellow eye-ring ; irises reddish-brown. Female 

 like that sex of L. senegala. Hab., "Nubia, southward 

 to the Rovuma River and westward to the Niger and 

 Upper Congo." (Shelley.) 



Capt. Shelley (■'Birds of Africa," Vol. IV., Part 1, 

 pp. ^9, 260) quotes the following notes on the wild 

 life: — " Heuglin met with these birds in the town of 

 Dongola, at Berber, Senaar and Kordofan ; they were 

 generally in smaJl flocks and single .specimens, mostly 

 seen in tJie ivarmer parts of Abyssinia and along the 

 White Nile, and according to his notes, they assume the 

 full plumage here in July and August, when they begin 

 to breed, often placing their nests close to each other, 

 at times under the roofs of houses and in holes in walls. 

 The nest has a large, irregular outer eoiting of straw, 

 covering a shallow depression for the eggs, and is com- 

 posed of hairs, feathers, grass and wool. The eggs vary 

 m number from three to seven. It is a lively little bird, 

 associating freely with other Finches, and "occasionally 

 will enter a house to pick up the bread-crumbs. It is 

 rarely seen in trees during the daytime, when it is 

 generally seeking its food on the ground, often near 

 dwellings." Tlie Hon. N. O. Rothschild and Mr. 

 Wollaston write: — "These beautiful little birds were 

 never observed far from the huts on the river-bank, 

 where they were often seen picking up crumbs of dhurra.- 

 mea! almost out of the hands of the natives." 



My friend, Mr. A. L. Butler, has sent me the follow- 

 ing note from the Soudan : — " A common resident. Very 



' Captain Shelley regards L. senegala and L. minima as the 

 same species, and the former is by far the older name. 



fond of the >'icinity of houses and villages. A charm- 

 ingly fearless little bird, entering verandahs and out- 

 houses freely to drink from jars. 1 luivo seen it at 

 Khartoum (all the year), at (J-edaref (A[>ril to June), at 

 Gallalxit (June), Wad Medani (April and June)." Mr. 

 Hawker rcnuirks : "Not noticed south of Gozabu-gumar, 

 but 1 found it at Fashoda ajid up tho Bahi--el-Gazal to 

 Mtohra-es-Rck in March and April. I saw a pair feed- 

 ing a newly-Hedged young one at Khartoum, January 

 19, 1903; when I approached to look at the young, one 

 of the parents fluttered about 'within a yard of me.' 



Mr. Erskine Allon, who had this sjwcies in his bird- 

 room, considered it an exception to the general rule of 

 delicacy among the Fire-Hnches. From its close 

 resemblance to the Common African Fire-finch, it is 

 likely enough that this sjjecies may not be anything 

 like so rai-e in the bird-market as is generally supposed. 



Captain Shelley places the following species in 

 Reichenbach's genus Ilypargos; and although 1 am 

 generally following the nomenclature of the " Catalogue 

 of Birds " in the British Museum, the different 

 character of the wings necessitates this alteration. 



Peters' Spotted Fire-finch (Hypargos niveiguttatus). 



Above chooolate-hrown, duller and more ashy on 

 crown; mipe, back and wing-coverts tinged with 

 crimson ; remaining wing-feathers dull blackish, brown 

 externally; rump and upper tail-coverts bright crimson 

 as well as the central tail-feathers ; the remaining 

 feathers black internally, crimson externally ; sides of 

 head, throat and chest crimson; remainder of imder 

 parts jet black; flanks thickly marked with large round 

 white spots; beak slate-black; feet reddish brown; 

 irides brown. Female with the sides of head brown, 

 instead of crimson ; ohin huffish ; crimson of breast 

 duller than in the males. Hab., Eastern half of Africa 

 from Inhambane to the Equator. 



An excellent coloured plate of both sexes of this 

 beautiful Waxbill wais published in The Avicullural 

 Magazine, N.s., Vol. III., February, 1905. 



According to Captain Shelley ("Birds of Africa." 

 Vol. IV., Part 1, p. 241) Mr. H. F. Francis writes: — 

 "It frequents tliick undergrowth and apparently finds 

 its food among the leaves on the ground, as it is 

 generally seen scratching about there." 



This bird was exhibited at the Crystal Palace bv 

 Mr. Hawkins in 1903 and 1904. Mr. SeUi-Smith thinks 

 that it shows some relationship to Pytelia, but Capt. 

 Shelley says that Hypargos (to which genus he veiy 

 properly refers this species) has the second primary 

 " broad throughout its length (never the least sulcateci 

 towards the end, as is the case in Lagonosticta and 

 Pijtelia)." 



Common Amaduvade Waxbill (Sporaginthvs 

 arnandava). 



In breeding plumage the cock bird is very handsome r 

 the upper part of the head and the back are deep copper- 

 brown ; the sides of the haid, throat, and upper tail- 

 coverts brilliant copperj'-red ; the feathers on the rump 

 and the tail-coverts are also marked near the tip with 

 a round white spot; the tail is black ; the breast is dull 

 coppery-red spotted with white, and the abdomen is 

 blackiih-brown ; the iris of the eye and beaTc are bright 

 red, and the legs pink. Female brown above, with 

 the wings darker, spotted with white, a streak of black 

 enclosing the eye, and a whitish streak below it ; sides 

 of face greyish, throat jxile buff. brcwTier on the breast ; 

 remainder of under parts bright oohreous, greyish at the 

 sides. 



The colouring of the male birds is constantly altering 

 throughout the year, and at certain times closely 



