FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



shrub on the margin of the forest about three feet above 

 the ground. 



" A boy brought me a young one in full feather ; it 

 was somewhat like a female, but less distinctly marked. 



" These birds are easily captured at certain seasons 

 by means of trap-cages. I had specimens alive at 

 various times, but they usually escaped or got injured, 

 so I had none to bring home. 



" In winter-time an Arauco I frequently saw them 

 feeding on the topmost twigs of low forest trees, just 

 like a flock of Siskins do here on the alder. They com- 

 mence to sing at Maqucoqua (Arauco) about the begin- 

 ning of August, and sing a good deal through the 

 summer. Their song is very pleasing and much 

 esteemed. Their call-note ds the double whistle of the 

 Siskin. They prefer wooded districts, are not found in 

 very open localities, and appear capable of finding sub- 

 sistence in the forest for a large portion of the year, if 

 not altogether." 



This species has been exhibited at the London Gardens 

 in 1875, 1886. and 1890, but Russ dees not include it in 



BLACK-HE A i > K i > SISKIN. 



his work under the name of C. barbata, but has resur- 

 rected for it the name of C. marginalis. 



BLACK-HEADKD SISKIN (Chrysomitris ictcrica). 



Above pale olive-green ; wings black, with the excep- 

 tion of the lesser coverts ; a broad yellow belt across 

 the base of the flights; rump yellow ; upper tail-coverts 

 olive-green ; tail yellow at the 'base, and black at the 

 extremity ; entire head, including throat, black ; under 

 surface bright yellow. Female duller and without black 

 on head. Habitat, Brazil and Argentine Republic to 

 Chili. 



In dts wild state this species is more .commonly met 

 with in inhabited districts than in woods, being espe- 

 cially fond of poplar groves, and usually building its 

 nest in a poplar ; its favounite seeds are those of the 

 sow-thistle and lettuce, on which plants it may usually 

 be seen when their seeds are ripening. 



Like our Siskin, this species ds extremely restless, 

 and travels in finall companies, usually consisting of 

 about a do/ en individuals. The nest is generally placed 

 on a small brmch, at its junction with the trunk of the 

 tree, and is firmly and neatly built, with a lining of 

 hair', down, or feathers. The' eggs are five in number, 

 thin-shelled, and pure white. 



The song is very sweet, and certainly superior to 

 that of the European bird. Unfortunately, dt rarely 

 arrives in this country in good condition, so that many 

 specimens die before they have been long in captivity; 

 they are also never very cheap. I imported a specimen 

 in 1893, but it arrived in such ill-health that it only 

 lived three days after it reached me. 



Mr. A. H. Holland (The Ibis, 1892, p. 197) 

 " Very common throughout the year, and in flocks 

 immediately after nestdng. Has a melodious twitter. 

 Breeds late in November, and is easily tamed." 



Mr. O. V. Aplin, writing on the birds of UniL 

 (The Ibis, 1894, pp. 170-171), says : Common, especi- 

 ally about the quintas of estancia houses, and residi-nt 

 to a certain extent, but possibly not entirely so ; they 

 certainly become much less common in the autumn. They 

 are fond of feeding on the seeds of different tall plants, 

 and I have seen them clinging to a yellow-flowered 

 composite, and especially to a blue-and-red-flowered 

 Boraginaceous plant called tior inurada, just as we see 

 Goldfinches clinging to thistles in England. The song 

 is very like that of the English Siskin (speaking only 

 from a knowledge of the song of the latter as a caged 

 bird), but rather more powerful, and reminding one 

 sometimes of the Goldfinch's. This is quite one of the 

 best song-birds of the country, and the song always 

 seemed to carry one back to the Old World. Building 

 was in full swing in Npvember. On the 15th I knew 

 <if three nests in construction, and one finished. Three 

 of these were in young poplars, the fourth in a Pi nut 

 iiixit/iii*, the former in the first fork of the brai: 

 8 or 9 feet from the ground. They were formed <>t" 

 grass, wool, lichen, etc., and lined with hair. The 

 next day the house-peon showed me a quite inaccessible 

 nest, some 10 or 12 feet up a big organ cactus (or fn/ni) 

 near the kitchen. Siskins were in song at the end of 

 January. The local name is ' Silgero.'" 



According to Russ, this bird is extremely rarely im- 

 ported, but in England I have seen it several time's. It 

 dis been exhibited at the London Gardens. Dr. I 

 describes <'liri/.<i>inifri* Imiri'i/rii, but I cannot find that 

 it has ever reached the European market. 



HOODED SISKIX (CJiri/.-nnniirix 



Above vermilion, brighter on the lower back, rump,. 

 and upper tail-coverts; the head black; wing-coverts 

 vermilion, black at base, the greater coverts so broadly 

 that only the tips retain the red colouring ; other wing- 

 feathers black, the flights, excepting the inner second- 

 aries, red at base, but with black shafts ; the inner 

 secondaries with the extremities of the outer \\vb.s 

 edged with whitish or reddish ; tail black, pale ver- 

 milion at base ; throat black ; sides of neck and under- 

 parts chiefly vermilion, but the abdomen and thighs 

 white ; under tail-coverts white-tipped ; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries ashy at base; flights black, pale 

 vermilion at base. Female altogether greyer, not black : 

 the back slightly washed with vermilion in front, the 

 lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts bright vc i 

 milion ; the red on the wings more orange in tint ; the 

 lores and chin whitish : sides of face and throat ashy 

 grey; breast orange-vermilion; abdomen, thighs, an. I 

 under tail-coverts white : sides and flanks brownish 

 ashy ; under wing-coverts and axillaries whitish, the 

 lower ones reddish at base. Habitat, "Venezuela and 

 Trinidad. Introduced into Cuba and Porto I! 

 (Sharps.) 



I can discover no published notes on the wild life 

 of this beautiful Siskin ; but happily, although a rarely 

 imported bird, and particularly in the English market, 

 Mr. Heer of Striegau and later Dr. Russ snocc, 



