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money in this class), and also a lovely pair of Beautiful and a good

pair of Long-tailed Grassfinches, and a rather lumpy female Cuba

Finch. Mrs. Gill exhibited a pair of Passerine Doves and

another of Chinese Quails. There were also in the class several

foreign Goldfinches, a good pair of Zebras, and a Green Singing-

finch. I did not see any of Mr. H. B. Smith’s cages in this or

any other class.


The first prize in the Insectivorous, Any Variety, Class

was taken by Mr. Glasscoe’s excellent Masked Wood-Swallow,

which looked as much like a fish out of water as the Wryneck;

but his Blue-cheeked Barbet, a fine male in rather poor colour,

looked as impudent as you like, and from his very cheeky look

attracted the attention of several visitors. This species lives on

fruit and berries ; but the bird had to be shoved either into this

or the class for seed-eaters. The two Zosterops sent up by the

same gentleman, of different species as I believe, were caged

together, and properly passed by the Judge. Mr. Townsend

carried off the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th prizes with his Tanagers—Blue

and Black, and Blue-headed. He had also a Black Tauager.


I11 the Limit Class, Mr. Hawkins came first with a first-

class male Rufous-tailed Finch, and third with a fair pair of

Bicheno’s, and fourth with a pair of Lavenders. He and other

exhibitors had likewise several birds of no particular merit, but

I must except Mr. Housdeu’s Dominicans, which looked like

good birds.


As regards the Lavender Finches, the female was of the

light colour which in recent years we have been taught to believe

denotes the female, but which it seems to me denotes only

immaturity of either sex. For some years past I have been

trying to obtain an undoubted female ; but all the light coloured

warranted females have turned as black as Crows when fully

adult. I fear that the females, being the more delicate, rarely

survive, and that most of the Lavenders we meet with are males.

The nearest approach to a female which I have been able to

obtain is now as black about the hind quarters as its mate; but

it is worthy of note that when it is handled twice a year on the

occasions of its transfers between its winter and summer abodes

it is found that it never has any flank spots, which the male as

often possesses. The light coloured flank theory took its origin

from a drawing which Mr. Abrahams caused to be made of an

example in his possession which a post mortem examination

proved to be a female ; but I strongly suspect that if the bird

had lived it would have turned as black as the others. I think



