126 W. Shore Baity—The Nesting of the Orchard Finch


went well for a week, when on the very day I started for a short

Whitsun holiday the cock escaped from the aviary, and my man was

unable to capture him. In spite of this disaster the hen kept on feeding

the young, and on my return I found that one youngster had left the

nest on May 27. Up till this time no soft food or mealworms had been

provided, but now that the cock had gone and all the work of feeding

was left to the hen I started handing out mealworms, and very soon the

hen would come at call and take them from my hand. The second

young bird left the nest on the last day of the month ; it was then

quite well feathered. For a week things went excellently, when one

morning I found one of the young dead, the skull having been fractured,

possiblv from an attack by another bird. The survivor thrived, and is

now as big as its mother and quite independent. I hope that it may

turn out to be a cock. Writing of their species as found in Patagonia,

Mr. W. H. Hudson says :—


“ This is a pretty and elegant bird, though possessing no bright

colours. They go in pairs in the warm season, but in winter unite in

flocks, often of two or three hundred individuals, and have a graceful

undulating flight. On being approached they utter a series of low,

ticking notes, and occasionally a long squealing cry. The male has also

a verv agreeable song, which continues at all hours, but on cold or windy

days only at sunset. The bird usually soars from his perch and utters

his song when gliding down with wings depressed and tail outspread.

When I first heard it I was startled with its wonderful resemblance

to the song of the Correndera Pipit (Anthus corendera); it is, however,

shorter and more powerful


Mr.H.Durnford,a1sowritingof this bird (Proceedings of the Zoological

Society), says : “ It is common at Chupat throughout the spring and

summer, and was often seen during our journey in the valleys ; it never

wanders far from water. On September 20 I took a nest on the

hills near the Colony; it was a very neat structure of wool, feathers,

and the flowers of a grass, and placed in the centre of a thick bush,

about a foot above the ground. It contained two eggs of a pale green

colour, thickly mottled with dull chocolate spots and streaks.”



