92 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



bird, less excitable, but also less inclined to be friendly 

 to its mate. After more than two years' intimate asso- 

 ciation, I had to modify this opinion, the two 'birds being 

 apparently on the best of terms with each other. 



In the first year of captivity the song of the male 

 bird "was inferior to ours, but in the second year vastly 

 superior, being more prolonged and varied. The call 

 note consists of a sharp chick like that of our species, 

 but rapidly repeated four or five times 1 . 



My 'birds made but slight attempts at breeding, but 

 if kept in a large outdoor aviary during the summer 

 months they would doubtless do so. Unfortunately I 

 possessed no suitable aviary until some time after my 

 pair had passed away ; the cock died on December 

 12th, 1898, and the hen on January 15th, 1899. 



CANARIAN CHAFFINCH (FringlUa canaricusis). 



A subspecies of the Madeiran bird, but with dark 

 slate-blue upper back ; the lower back and rump 

 yellowish green; crown glossy bine-black without de- 

 fined frontal band ; markings on face and under surface 

 of body pale salmon reddish ; breast paler at sides ; in 

 the winter the back is washed with olive-yellow. Female 

 less ashy than F. ///Vr ///<.</*, more fulvous below. 

 Habitat, Canary Islands. 



The wild life doubtless resembles that of our European 

 bird. 



According to Russ, this species has occasionally been 

 imported singly by Jamrach : it has been exhibited at 

 the London Zoological Gardens. 



ALGERIAN CHAFFINCH (Friiiyilla sprxHogaii/s). 



" Forehead and lores black; remainder of head, nape, 

 scapulars, and upper tail-coverts slate blue; back and 

 rump green ; middle pair of rectrices dark grey fringed 

 with _ whitish ; three outer pairs white, black on the 

 terminal portion of the outer web and on the basal 

 portion of the dnner web ; next adjoining pair black, 

 with a white patch on the inner web; primary quil!s 

 black, fringed externally with greenish white ; secon- 

 daries similar, but more broadly fringed ; wing-coverts 

 as in F. cir-lete ; throat and rest of underparts a pale 

 roseate vinous, becoming whitish on the abdomen, 

 i:n. and under tail-coverts. Iris hazel; bill lead- 

 colouT ; feet brown." 



"The female of F. *j:<t-/i<uj<'/i//.< may be easily distin- 

 guished from that of /'. caelebs by the far' greater 



nit of white on the wings, particularly on the ' 

 of the_ secondaries. The general colour' of the x upper 

 parts is also greyer and less brown than in F. cn/t-h---. 

 In size there is also a difference, F. cnl/li.< being rather 

 smaller than F. spnfliat/: ///.<." (Whitaker.) Habitat, 

 North-eastern Africa, from 'Tunis to Morocco (Sharpe). 



" In many parts of Northern Tunisia, particularly 

 where there are orchards and olive-groves, this Chaffinch 

 is remarkably plentiful . and by no means shuns the 

 neighbourhood of buildings, although it also frequents 

 the open country far fiom any human dwellings. 



" In its habits generally F. sj><x/i-itjr/iy;s resembles our 

 European Chaffinch, and I cannot ' say that I have 

 noticed much difference in its song, although its notes 

 may perhaps be harsher and not so clear as those of 

 /'. ca !<'!><. 



" This Chaffinch thrives well in confinement, and 

 examp^s of it may often be seen in cages in Tunis and 

 other towns of the Regency. Seeds of various kinds 

 seem to be 1 the principal food of the species, but insects 

 also enter largely into its diet. The nestling season of 

 F. f/n>r/!nt/i in/.* in Southern and Central Tunisia com- 

 mences soon after the middle of March, and is continued 

 well into May. In the north of the Regency it is some- 

 what later. In the olive-groves of the Gafsa Oasis I 



have found many nests during the first fortnight of 

 April, some with fresh eggs, others with fledglings in 

 them. The nests are placed, as a rule, in the fork of 

 a bough, at a height of from eight to sixteen feet from 

 the ground, and resemble those of our European Chaf- 

 finch in being cup-shaped and neatly and compactly 

 built, but they are somewhat larger, and composed 

 externally of dry bents and grasses of a greyish colour, 

 which no doubt harmonises better with the grey bough.s 

 and foliage of the olive-tree. 



" Interwoven into the nest are pieces of wool and cotton 

 threads, and occasionally also a bit of blue cotton-stuff. 

 probably picked up near some Arab tent ; the anterior is 

 neatly lined with hair and feathers. The eggs, usually 

 rather larger than those of the common Chaffinch, and 

 generally four in number, are of a dull pale blui 

 greenish colour, sparsely clouded and spotted with 

 vinous and russet markings. They vary a good clea] in 

 size and shape, but their average measurements 

 21.50 by 15.50 mm." J. I. S. Whiitakcr. " Birds of 

 Tunisia," Vol. I., pp. 214-217. 



This chastely pretty Chaffinch has also been exhibited 

 at the London Zoological Gardens as early as 1864. 

 The best feeds for Goldfinches and Siskins are canary. 

 German rape, hemp, thistle, teasel, dandelion, and maw 

 seed ; the flowering and seeding heads of all the thistle- 

 tribe, of groundsel and dandelion are much appreciated 

 by them, as also green-fly (aphides). 



EASTERN GOLDFINCH (Carrfm'J!* caniceps). 



Nearly resembles the European bird, but may at once 

 be distinguished by the absence of black from the head, 

 white from the nape, the smaller crimson blaze and more 

 acute beak ; the inner secondaries have broad white 

 outer borders in place of the terminal spots in the 

 European bird. Habitat, "From Lake Baikal to Kras- 

 noyarsk in Siberia. Probably South Persia, and thence 

 eastwards to Turkestan and North-western Himalayas " 

 (Sharpe). 



All that Jerdon tells us about this Goldfinch is tint 

 "caged specimens are occasionally brought to Calcutta 

 for sale, and its song is paid by Adams to be e.\ 

 similar to that of its European congener." (" Binls of 

 India," Vol. II., p. 408.) Neither can I discover any- 

 thing abo-ut its wild life in Hume's " Nests and Eggs 

 of Indian Birds," but in Tl-r l\n* for 1898. p. 28. MV. 

 J. Davidson says: "This lovely little bird was fairly 

 common on the hills round Srinugger in April, and on 

 the 29th there we found on the Tukht-i-Suliman a nest 

 half built on the horizontal branch of a /'/////.- t-.n-ilsn at 

 about ten feet from the ground. This nest we had taken 

 on the 8th May ; it was a lovely, very solid cup of n 

 with a few roots interwoven on the outside, ami 

 tained when taken three pale blue eggs, slightly spotted 

 on the larger end with dull red and lilac." 



Dr. Rus.s says : " In the course of yeans I have twice 

 received the species from Gudera of Leipzic," and lie 

 adds that they were in bad plumage, so that he c ml 1 

 not make an exact description of them ; so that evidently 

 they did not live long. He expresses a hope that they 

 may be more freely imported. C. ^cinilrrji.-t has been 

 exhibited at the London Gardens more than once. In 

 1897 Mr. Frank Finn sent half a dozen, of which thiec 

 arrived in safety. I have an idea .also thai it has been 

 exhibited at the Crystal Palace, but I may be mistaken 

 in this. 



AMERICAN SISKIN- (Chrysomitris fri-*fi*}. 



Lemon yellow; mantle and upper hack somewhat 

 sordid; upper tail-coverts white; median wing-c., 

 black at base; greater coverts black with white tips; 

 other wing-feathers black edged with white towards 

 and at extremities; tail black, the central feathers 



