184 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



Magpie Mannikin {Amaureslhes fringilloides). 

 The male alwve is deep chucolate-brown, the front of 

 the back, scapularies, and median wing-<'overts with 

 white shaft streaks; the entire head and tliroat, nnnp, 

 and tail black with a steel-greenish gloss; outer tail- 

 feathers with a white fringe to the inner web ; under 

 part* white, slightly sordid towards the vent ; a large 

 purplish-blac/. |Kit<h at the sides of the breast, .and be- 

 hind it a patch of clear liver-brown with blackis'h bars ; 

 thidis partly black; beak leaden grey, the upper man- 

 dible darker than the lower ; feet lea<ien grey ; iris dark 

 brown. 



The female is verv similar, but slightly smaller, with 

 narrower, more gradually tapering beak and more sordid 

 under parts ; the liver-bro\vn patch slightly saiialler. 

 Hab., Central Africa from east to west and North- 

 Western Africa. 



The following notes on the wild life I quote from 

 Shelley's " Birds of Africa." Vol. IV., Part 1, pp. 161- 

 162 : " Mr. Robin Kemp informs me, ' these Mannikins 

 are locally abundant, associating freely with S. cxicul- 

 laliis. At Rotifunk there was a large colony of them, 

 roosting and nesting in mango, lime and orange trees, 

 in the enclosed compound which contained one bun- 

 galow. However, at Bo, eighty miles inland, I saw it 

 once only during two years' observation, when I met 

 wdth three of these birds together on a rice farm of a 

 previous year.' In Liberia Dr. Buttikofer found the 

 species breeding in November. The nests were usually 

 placed singly, in forks of fruit-trees, at five to ten feet 

 from the ground, and were very similar to those of 

 olher species of Spermrxtes, tolerably large, constructed 

 c>f grass and v^irious materials, lined "with the softer por- 

 tions of the grass, and were oval in form with an 

 entrance at the side. The eggs, generally six in 

 number, were pure white, and measured 0.6 by 0.44. 

 Fisher gives a similar description of a neet of this 

 species, containing six white eggs, which ho found on 

 the island of Zanzibar. 



" In Eastern Africa its most northern range appears 

 to be Zanzibar Island, where it is plentiful, and known 

 to t.'ie natives, according to Fischer, as the ' Tongo 

 simba.' He mat with. them here frequenting the culti- 

 vated fields in parties of six to tight." 



I purchased miy first and only'pair of this Mannikin 

 in 1896, and placed them in one of my smaller flight 

 cages. For several days they quarrelled" so continuously 

 that I feared they must both be males. I therefore 

 caught and carefully compared them, when I was at 

 once satisfied that I had an undoubted pair. Curiously 

 eiiough, wnen I restored them to their cage they became 

 friends almost directly, and ever afterwards agreed 

 perfectly. 



I believe it was my failure to take a prize with this 

 pair of birds which finally decided my giving up send- 

 ing biiyis to shows. They were rare at the time, and I 

 took seme trouble to provide them with a cage' which 

 would exhibit them to advantage. When I went to look 

 at them I found that they h.ad not even obtained a 

 notice, wherea.s two cocks in a small cage adjoining had 

 been awarded first. I asked the judge why the latter 

 had taken premier honours while my pair had been 

 ignored ; he replied that they were larger birds than 

 mine. I jwinted out that as Iwth were cocks, and not a 

 true pair, they naturally appe.ired to be larger ; he eaid 

 he knew nothing about the sexes, but he. of course, 

 gave the prize to the larger birds. Whether matters 

 are better managed now I do not know, but I conclude<l 

 that it was of no use to send birds to a show if the 

 appointed judges were incapable of judging them fairly. 

 In those days there were many pri7.e- winners which 

 ought to have been disqualified on the ground that they 



were not pairs, and sometimes not even two of the same 

 species. 



Findiing that my pair did not breed in a small flight, 

 I transferred them to one of my largest cages, such as 

 most beginners would dignify with the title of 

 " aviary " ; here they occasionally made .some pretence 

 at building, but .soon seemed to w«iry of their task, 

 and retired to their usual roosting-place on the top of 

 the nest-box. Fdnally I transferred them to one of my 

 birdroom aviaries, where they remained for the rest of 

 their lives. The oock died on the 13th August, 1900, 

 and the hen, I think, about two years Later during her 

 moult; her skin was not worth preserving. 



I have never heard these birds sing, and even their 

 call note is a weak plaintive little whistle frequently 

 repeated. They should be fed like Java Sparrows, and 

 seem to be equally hardy. 



Two-COLOUBED Mannikin {Spermestcs bieolor). 



The upper surface, throat, breast, and sides are glossy 

 black, each feather, excepting the flights, being fringed 

 with dark green, the lower part of the breast, abdomen 

 and under t:iil-coverts snow white, a few of the lateral 

 feathers barred with twkite so as to give an irregular 

 outline to the black of the sides ; bill bluish ; feet 

 Iblackish ; irides brown. 



The following notes are from Shelley's "Birds of 

 Africa." Vol. IV.. Part 1, pp. 163, 164 :— " In Liberia, 

 according to Dr. Biittikofer, it is abundant and gene- 

 rally distributed, frequenting human habitatiions evei> 

 more than J^. fringilloides. which it resembles in its 

 habits and feeding. It breeds in the plantations and 

 trees in the middle of the villages, also in the roofs of 

 houses. A nest he found in August at Sofor* Place 

 contained six pure white eggs, mea.suring 0.56 by 0.4. 

 At Schieffelinsville they were in flocks of about twenty 

 individuals in the plantations. Eraser records them as 

 " common in the roofs of the huts belonging to the 

 fishermen of Cape Palmas, in which situation they 

 breed and commit much mischief, like our Commou 

 Sparrows. The native name is ' Saybue.' " 



" Mr. Boyd Alexander found it at Prahsu, and 

 writes : — " This species breeds in August, forming a 

 domed nest of dry grass, which is placed between the 

 small branches of a tree, generally an acacia." In 

 Togoland it is known to the natives as the ' Airo,* 

 according to Mr. Baumann, who procured a specimen 

 at Jo." 



This is a very rarely imported bird, which I only 

 once possessed, and which, until I compared its body 

 with the common species, I took for the Bronze Man- 

 uikir Under this name I described dt in The 

 Feathered World as follows : — " The fir.st specimen of 

 this bird that I ever saw alive was caught in South 

 Kensington, one very cold day, by a policeman, who 

 sold it to me for half-a-crown. The poor little thing 

 must have escaped from some aviary in the neighbour- 

 hood, been without food the greater part of the day, 

 and the Sparrows had so frightened it that it was 

 easily caught. I wa.s much plea.sed -with the poor 

 little" fellow, took him home, and put him in a cage 

 with Waxbills, where he had a good supjK'r and retired 

 to rest, never to wake again in this world. A tiny 

 Finch, about the size of a Zebra Finch. His colouring 

 is pretty, though not startlingly brilliant. 



Rdfotis-dackf.d Mannikin {Spermestes nigriceps). 



Above chestnut, rump and upper tail -coverts black, 

 barred and spotted with white at the tips : wing-coverts 

 slightly browner than back, excepting the inner ones 

 which are chestnut ; median coverts with a pale streak 



