SPERMESTES CUCULLATUS 169 
of Finches, to Europe.” These birds are hardy in captivity, 
and, according to Dr. Russ, both sexes take part in the con- 
struction of the nest, and sit together at the same time on 
their eggs. ‘The duration of incubation lasts twelve days, and 
the young desert the nest between the sixteenth and eighteenth 
day; the course of the brood from the first egg to the 
flight occupies nearly five weeks. He further adds: “Six 
youngsters sat in a row, and as soon as the first pleader was 
pacified the old bird hopped upon its back in order thereby 
to provide for the second. ‘Thus she moved along until the 
whole row was satisfied. As a rule they nest three or four 
times in succession, and every clutch consists of from four 
to seven eggs.” He also informs us that the change of plumage 
~by the first moult takes place gradually from the fourth week, 
and is completed in about three months. 
Dr. .P. Rendall found a nest with eggs on April 21, at the 
Gambia. Mr. Kemp writes from Sierra Leone: “The nests 
are somewhat spherical and are placed in thick, small bushes, 
banana-trees, the palm-leaved roofs of huts, or other con- 
venient places, from the middle of August to February, and 
usually contain five eggs of a dirty white colour. In the 
rains they roost in these nests, often five or six birds together, 
and can be caught at night with a butterfly net and a lantern.” 
On the Gold Coast Drs. Reichenow and Liithder found a colony 
of these birds breeding at Abokobi, in a mango-tree in the 
town, with fresh eggs and young birds in September. The 
nests were very large and loosely constructed of fine grass. 
The eggs, four in number, were white and measured 0°5 x 0°4. 
On Prince’s Island, Mr. Keulemans informs me, “ they are 
very common, and to be found breeding in colonies in bushes 
near fields, and amongst the high ferns on the outskirts of the 
forests. ‘The plantations appeared to be always filled with the 
young birds, many scarcely able to fly, which kept up a con- 
