Correspondence.


SOUTH AFRICAN BIRDS.



192



Sir, — I am anxious to know whether you or any of your readers

could name the following birds which I will try to describe. They were

brought by a friend of mine from Cape Colony about three weeks ago. A

professional bird catcher caught them for him near Middleburg, where he

has often seen them flying about — there are five Weavers (?), three cocks

and two hens. They are like in shape to my Orange Bishops.

The hens are grey and the cocks have a black mask, orange-red

ring about a quarter of au inch wide round head and throat, dull orange

shoulders merging into bright orange-red to just beyond root of tail, velvet

black from orange band round throat, all underneath up to root of tail where

there is a patch of orange. They have far more black than my birds : wings

and short tail same as my Bishops. I enclose feathers to show colour, as it

seems rather different to mine. As I am on a visit I cannot see the birds

together. The other birds are tw T o Cape Canaries and three small Waxbills,

and then there are two I want named: About the size of a Chaffinch,

beak like Bullfinch, head and throat a bronze-red, the}' look as if they had

not quite got their colour yet. Breast and flanks laced like Silver

Wyandotte fowls. I enclose feathers. The lacing becomes light brown

underneath, merging into white below tail, wings and tail same as feathers

I enclose with irregular markings, back light brown, tail slight, about one

and a half inches long. They have a little warbling song and stretch

themselves out like Cutthroats when they sing. The natives call them

“ Red-lieaded Finks.”


N. J. F. Dunpeath.


The following reply has been sent to Lady Dunlcath :—


I think there can be no doubt that the Weaver is the smaller variety

of the Oryx Weaver (Grenadier) to which the name of P. sundevalli has been

given. It was supposed to represent the more northern race of the species,

but is said not to be constant.


The other, I should say, has been correctly identified as the Red¬

headed Finch (Amadina erythrocephala), but the colouring of the head has

probably not been perfectly developed yet, and will become dull blood-red

instead of bronze-red. I suppose the feathers you sent are from either the

breast or flanks, the huffish tint being confined to the centre of the feather

behind the black and white bars.


A. G. BuTEKR.



INSTINCT AND NEST-BUILDING.


Sir,—I shall be very much obliged if you will tell me if, in your

experience with breeding birds, you have known any cases where they have

been reared quite away from any adult birds of the same species; and then



