WAXBILLS. 



155 



and of late years it has been bred by various members of 

 the Avifultural Society in ojien-air English aviaries. 

 When firel imported it is sonw-what dulitat-c, thougli less 

 eo thaji many of the other African Waxhills ; when once 

 acclimatised it lives to a good old age — eight to ten years 

 being not excejitional. 



Oranoeohekked Waxdill (S pnraginthus melpodus). 



The cock bird has a dark slate-grey cap, the back and 

 upper wing-coverlis nifcms brown, the tiight feathers 

 ratncr darker, the upper tail coverts crimson, the tail 

 blackish, the outer webs just touched with crimsitn 

 towards the root ; the luidcr p^irts are li&hy grey, slightly 

 browner on the belly, and tinted with rose towards the 

 vent; the beak an<l a little patch between the latter 

 and the eye crim.son ; cheeks orange, legs gi-ejTsh brown. 

 The hen is le.ss brightly colourcyi than the cock, but 

 iiiherwi.st- simihir. (Tddly enough Pmf. Ridgway 

 dc.scril>es the species (from Porto Rico, to which island 

 it has been intrcKluced) as possessing a female with no 

 orange on th*< side of the head; either his females are 

 birds in nestling piumage, or the West Indian climate 

 must have greatly modified the species. Hab., 

 ■Renegambia to Angola. 



nie following notes are from Captain Shelley's 

 ■' Birds of Africa," Vol. IV., Part 1, p. 213. Speaking 

 of the Oambia. he ?ays : — "In the 1-atter district Dr. P. 

 Kendall found its nest, hidden in long giass, lightly 

 constnicted of that material, and oont-aining seven 

 white eggs; these measure 0.52 bv 0.4." Mr. Boyd 

 Alexanch'r writes :--" The species is plentiful around 

 Kumassi, cnnsortini; together in large flocks. We 

 found a number of nests attached to the elepliant-grass, 

 which we cleared away the day after the fort had been 

 relieved." 



This is an active little species, but rather nervous. 

 When feeding with many other small Finches it will 

 suddenly give a cry of alarm, and the whole crowd will 

 fly up in a startled rush, though nothing whatever has 

 really Imppened to causie alarm. I suspect that this 

 bird either has a bad conscience or is fond of practical 

 jokes ; there seems no other way of accounting for such 

 uncalled for panic. The Orange-cheeked Wa.xbill has 

 been bred in aviaries, but my specimens showed no 

 inclination to do so. For breeding these and other 

 Waxhills. soaked ants' eggs have been recommended as 

 part of their diet, but I have never known any of the 

 ornamental Finches to touch this food, and therefore I 

 have entirely given up the attempt to induce them to 

 do so. Sjxmge cake dry, insectivorous birds' food, and 

 a fresh turf is all they need. 



Miss Alderson wiis, I believe, the first to breed this 

 bird in England, and in a cage! (.See The Avicvltural 

 Magazine. 1st. Ser., Vol. VIII., p. 36.) 



I have found the Orange-cheek one of the most 

 delicate of the African Waxhills. It is most easily 

 kept in an aviary cage in a dwelling-room, or in a 

 room kent (after the German fashion! constantly at a 

 high tem])erature. Like all the Waxbills. it needs a 

 retiring place in which to keep snug at night, a warmly 

 lined cocoanut husk or plaited nest-basket being per- 

 haps the most satisfactory. Like some of the other 

 delicate species, I believe it is quite capable of being 

 rendered hardy by turning it into an outdoor aviary 

 ab.iut the beginning of June, and keeping it there until 

 after the commencement of the winter fro.sts ; but. of 

 course, it must have some shelter to retire to at night. 



Green Amaduvade [Slictoepiza formosa). 

 Its back is olive-green, becoming golden-green on the 

 Tump and upper tail-coverts; the tail is black, and, as 

 with all the Waxbills, is constantly jerked from side to 



side ; the throat and chin are dull whitish ; the breast 

 dull yellow; the abdonjen and under tail-coverts bright 

 chrome yellow ; the sides of the body pure white, 

 trajisvcrsely barred with blatk; the iris of the ev'es 

 clear brown; beak, dull crim.son; legs, flesh-pink. The 

 hen is a little paler and duller than the cock. Hab., 

 Central India. 



In its wild state this bird's favourite haunts are fields 

 of sugar-cane or the dcn.»e jungle gra.ss on the banks of 

 streams and rivers. In .suuh places the nest is con- 

 .structetl, being situated with its back to the stalks of 

 sugar-cane or gra&s, a leaf above and below being 

 woven into the nest, and a few others into the sides to 

 keep it in ])osition. The nest itself is large, globular, 

 and comi>actly woven of coarse gi'ass and strips of 

 sugar-cane leaf, the lining being of finer grass. The 

 entrance hole is in front, and is prolonged into a short 

 neck somewhat depressed so as to conceal the opening. 

 Five white eggs are usually deijosited, which can in 

 no respect be distinguished from those of other small 

 Ploceine Finches. 



This Waxbill is by some aviculturi.sts regarded as a 

 delicate bird, but I have found it longer lived and 

 hardier than any other -species, not excepting even the 

 common Ani.aduv.ade. About 1893 or 1894 I purchased 

 eight of these birds in two lots, and in 1898 six or seven 

 of them are recorded as still living ; about 1899 they 

 l)egan to drop off, but several of them survived for from 

 eight to ten years, I believe ; not one of them is 

 labelled, unfortunately, as regards date of its death. 



I have known this bird to endure twenty-one degrees) 

 of frost without injury, proving it to be at least as' 

 capable of resisting cold as the common Amadnvade. 

 Breeding in captivity is very uncertain ; I have had 

 Ixjth nests and eggs in my aviaries, but the Green 

 Waxbills have always been disturbed by other birds, 

 and this has put a stop to incubation. In 1905. howdver. 

 Mr. W. E. "Teschemaker succeeded in breeding it. and 

 again in 1906, when he sent me a young bird in order 

 that I might note its assumption of the adult plumage ; 

 unfortunately it died on September 16th. 



In ihe young plumage this bii'd is of a distinctly 

 yellower olive-colour on upper parts than the adults ; 

 the clear pale sulphur yellow and the black and-white 

 striping of the sides and flanks are wanting : the under 

 surface is washed with bi-ownish buff, especially across 

 the breast, on sides and flanks, and thighs, there is a 

 diffu.sed sulphur yellowish patch behind the breast, 

 which passes into white in the centre of the abdomen ; 

 the under tail-coverts are sulphur yellow, the beak is 

 black, inclining to crimson on gonys, the feet brownish 

 fle.sh-pink. 



When first imported Green Waxbills are usually in 

 poor plumage, and if a specimen in this condition is 

 turned in with acclimatised examples of its owii species, 

 the latter will all attack it, pulling out additional 

 feathers; it is, therefore, best to keep newly acquired 

 examples by themselves until their plumage is renewed. 



The two 'kinds of millet (white and sprayl commonly 

 used by aviculturists and a little canai-j-seed are 

 suflicient to keep this species in health, but all the 

 small Finches delight in grass in the ear, which should 

 always be given when obtainable. 



RED-nROWED OR AUSTRALIAN WaXBILL 



(^Egintha temporalis). 

 Above it is olive-green, the flights with broivnish- 

 grey inner webs ; upjwr tail-coverts crimson ; central 

 tail" feathers black, the others brown ; crown of head 

 and nape si ate- grey ; a broad carmine eye streak as 

 in the St. Helena and Grey Waxbills ; eyelid crimson 

 above, gi'ey below ; sides of face and throat ashy, chin 



