1 9 6 Bird-keeping. 



that all the feathers have transverse blackish wavy 

 lines all over them, and look very soft and silky ; the 

 legs and feet are brown. The male and female are 

 alike. The common African Waxbill (Estrelda or 

 dEgintha cinered} is a much smaller bird, with a shorter 

 tail; about three and a half inches in length, of rather 

 a greyer shade of plumage, but with the same roseate 

 hue on the under part of the body, the same red stripe 

 through the eyes, and vermilion beak ; but it has not 

 the transverse marking of the feathers. The hen is 

 the same in colour. The Orange - cheeked Waxbill 

 (Estrelda or ^Egintha metyodd} has a body of the same 

 size as the last bird described, with rather a larger and 

 broader tail, which he flirts incessantly from side to 

 side. He is a most beautiful, smooth little bird, always 

 as neat as possible, with every feather in its place, 

 with the same bright vermilion beak, grey head, neck, 

 and throat, brown back, wings, and tail, two bright 

 orange patches on the cheeks instead of the red stripe 

 through the eyes, a light grey breast and sides, and a 

 dash of salmon-colour on the lower part of the body ; 

 the upper tail- coverts are dark crimson. The hen is 

 exactly the same. The Zebra or Orange - breasted 

 Waxbill (Estrelda or SEgintha sanguinolentd) is the 

 smallest of the species, only a little more than three 

 inches long : the head and upper part of the body 

 are brown ; the throat, breast, and sides of the same 

 colour ; the beak is of a deeper red than the other 



