Finches. 195 



above the tail. Dr. Russ says he had several mules 

 between the two species reared in his bird-room. 



WAXBILLS and AVADAVATS, etc. These pretty little 

 birds are delightful pets for the drawing-room. They 

 are thoroughly happy in each other's society, and sit 

 all together in a row on a long perch, packed as closely 

 as possible, caressing and pluming each other. One 

 of the Avadavats will often lift himself up, and sing a 

 pretty little soft warble, very soon coming to an end, 

 and then he sinks down into his place, and another gets 

 up and sings. The Waxbills do not often sing any- 

 thing like a song, but they chirp a good deal ; and, if one 

 of them gets hold of a feather, or a little bit of thread 

 or grass -stalk, the chirp becomes very continuous 

 and triumphant, and the bird dances up and down on 

 the perch with great delight. The largest I have seen 

 of the Waxbills comes from St. Helena (Estrelda 

 ^lndulaia or ^Egintha astrild\ sometimes called the 

 PHEASANT FI-NCH. It is about four inches and a half 

 in length, including the tail, which is long and wedge- 

 shaped. The beak is bright red, like sealing-wax, and 

 a darker red stripe passes through each eye, and there 

 is a dash of red also in the under part of the body ; 

 but the prevailing colour of the plumage is greyish- 

 brown, the head and back being much darker than 

 the neck, throat, and chest ; the wings and tail are 

 dark brown, and the under part of the tail is still 

 darker. The remarkable thing about the plumage is 



132 



