Birds of the (Umari/ Js/ands. 5 1 



zotital boiif^li. Orio iicsi \^, 'IS lined vvitli IJock-Dovc^'H fciillicrs, 

 and two witli iliosc of llu; l{,c(l Kile. 'I'Ik; v^^h nro lik(! 1,Ii()h(! 

 of Frinf/illa tinti/lon, hut hirfijcr and bi'if^litcr in (•oloiic. I 

 liavo two in wliirli tlic hliu; of tlu; f^iound-colour is collcctcul 

 in a zone round tin; middle of" tli(! ejij^-. |{ut small ;iii<l pale- 

 coloured Cf^gs of Frim/illa teydea would be indiHtin}i;iiislial)l(! 

 from lai'!^'(! and brif^lit-c^oloured e^}^s of F. tinlillon. Tiieef^f^s 

 of both s|)(!eies fach; rapidly af*t(!r bein}^- taken. 1'h(! Ikmi 

 a[)|)arcntly alone builds the n(;st. J never saw a eoek earry 

 any materials. Whih; buildirif^ and colleetinj^ Tnat(!rialH hIio 

 is usually unattended by the eoek, and on the lew oeeasions 

 that I liavcseen him accompany licr, hIio has {generally (jliaMcd 

 liim away; he appears, how(!ver, to fix on the site Ioi-iIk; 

 nest. 



As this bird has b(!en almf)st entirely left to itself until the 

 last year or two, it is a wonder that it is not miu;h more 

 ])l(!ntiful than it is, not that it is rar(! in a few favoured 

 localities. It eertairdy lays only twf) ej^f^s, and proljably 

 ])rceds oidy once a year, as it bre(;ds so late; oe(;asionally, 

 thoufi;h, I (!X|)eet it breeds twice;, lis enemy is tlu; Spari'ow- 

 hawk, which is fairly common in the pine-for(!sts, and jis the 

 I'cydean Chaffinch fe(!(ls a j^r-cat deal on the bar(; ground 

 aniouf^ th(! pines, it must fall an (;asy pr(;y and be fVe(|U(!ntly 

 snapp(,'d uj) without a cliane(! (jf hidinj^ itself. I (lestrov(;d 

 many n(;sts aiul j)airs of Accipiler nisus where; I w;is tin's 

 spriri}^, and found many "kills^' of /''. /ci/dra, (ividenlly ])y 

 Sparrowliawks. I espe(;ially laid myself out to d(;stroy them, 

 so as to counterbalance the loss occasioned by the; nests of 

 F. Icydca I took. As each n(;st was taken within a few days 

 of incubation commcncinf^, 1 expect that in each case the 

 |)arents will lay again ; in fact the pair belonging to my first 

 nest were thinking of doing ho the last tijru; I was np in the 

 forest. They are very tame cnge-birds, and seem very hardy 

 and easy to keep, provided they have some pine-seeds. 'JMiey 

 will eat canary-seed and millet, but a butterfly, moth, or grass- 

 hopper is what they prefer to all, and soon after being caught 

 th(;y will take; them from the hand; they care for no gnjcn 

 food that I can find. 



