SAFFRON-FINCHES . 



103 



colouring of its eggs ; it does, indeed, build in holes 

 as (Sparrows often do. but it forms a nest like that of a 

 Greenfinch, though with more nearly the materials which 

 a Bunting would select ; indeed, from its colouring and 

 its habit of walking, instead of hopping, when on the 

 ea-rth, this species was at one time believed to 'be 

 related to Emberiza. Its name of Brazilian Canary, 

 recognised in several European languages, is not 

 inappropriate apparently, since the genus Sycalis 

 replaces Scrinus in South America. It has several close 

 relatives, with similar habits, and which are occasionally 

 offered for sale under the same name. 



A'. Haveola pairs freely with 8. pelzelni in an aviary, 

 and the resulting young are perfectly fertile, the males 

 being usually indistinguishable from the sire of the 

 Saffron-finch, but the females more nearly approaching 

 their mother. I have bred many of these and pure- 

 bred Saffron-finches, both in aviary and cage ; they are 

 extremely quarrelsome, resembling the Chaffincheis in 

 disposition and in their savage courtship. 



Formerly it used to be thought a hopeless impossibility 

 to obtain, a hybrid between the Saffron-finch and the 

 domesticated Canary, it being asserted that the former 

 did not feed its young from the crop ; this, however, I 

 soon discovered to be a fallacy. The fact is that 

 attempts were always made with a cock Saffron-finch 

 and a hen Canary, and I suspect the rough courtship of 

 the American bird was too much for the more timid 

 Serin; but in 1898 I had my Canaries and Saffron- 

 finches in an aviary together, and noticed that the 

 cocks of the former pursued and sang to the herns of the 

 latter. One hen went to nest and, after the removal 

 of the Canaries, reared thres young unaided. Two of 

 the young unfortunately died during their moult; but 

 the third (a hen) lived for many years. At first it 

 showed a god deal of Canary colouring, especially in 

 the wing-feathers ; but with advancing years it became 

 much more like its mother, and might easily have 

 passed for a small bright-coloured >'. naveola ; never- 

 theless it is significant that a cock Saffron-finch sub- 

 sequently associated with it in another aviary persistently 

 ignored it. Since then other aviculturists have had 

 fertile eggs from the same cross. 



PELZKLN'S SAFFRON-FINCH (Sycalis pelzelni). 



Yellowish olive-green, the back streaked with 

 blackish ; lower back and rump yellow with an ashy 

 tinge ; wing and tail feathers black with yellow edges'; 

 forehead bright orange, sides of head and under parts 

 bright yellow, back of ear-coverts rather duller, as well 

 as the sides and flanks, the 'latter streaked with 

 blackish ; beak dark horn-colour ; feet yellowish-brown ; 

 irides dark brown. Female above dull brownish grey, 

 mottled with blackish ; under parts a.shy whitish ; the 

 breast streaked with dusky brown. Habitat, S. Brazil, 

 Paraguay, and Argentina. 



Hudson says of this species ("Birds of Arg. Rep.," 

 Vol. I., pp. 66-68) : " They remain with us all the year 

 and live in pairs, the sexes of this species being faith- 

 ful. Sometimes they are seen associating in small 

 flocks, but I am inclined to believe that only the young 

 unmated birds are gregarious. 



"In spring and summer the male sings frequently 

 with great energy, but without much melody. After a 

 hurried prelude of sharp chirps and trills, he pours out 

 a continuous stream of sound, composed of innumerable 

 brief notes, high and shrill as those of a bat, wounding 

 the ear with their excessive sharpness, and emitted so 

 rapidly that the whole song is more like that of a cicada 

 than of a bird. This piercing torrent of sound is broken 

 at intervals by a low grave note, or half a dozen sharp 



rapid notes in a lower key, which come as an agreeable 

 relief." 



" In towns they build in walls, like the English 

 Sparrow ; in country places they always select the 

 domed nest of some Dendrocolaptine species to breed 

 in. Possibly in some districts where I have not been, 

 this Sparrow selects other breeding-sites ; my expe- 

 rience is that outside of a town it never lays anywhere 

 but in some domed nest, and at home I frequently put 

 up boxes for them in the trees, but they would not 

 notice them, though the Wrens and Swallows were glad 

 to have them. Sometimes they make choice of the large 

 fabric of the Anumbius acuticaudatus, called Lenatero 

 in the vernacular ; but their claim to this nest (even 

 when the Lefiateros are out of it) is frequently disputed 

 by other species which possess the same habit as this 

 Sparrow, but are more powerful than he. Their 

 favourite breeding-place is, however, the solid earthen 

 structure of the Oven-bird ; and it is wonderful to see- 

 how persistently and systematically they labour to drive 

 out the lawful owners birds so much larger and more 

 powerful than themselves. Early in spring, and before 

 the advent of the Tree-Martins, the pair of Sparrows 

 begin haunting the neighbourhood of the oven they have 

 elected to take possession of, usually one pretty high 

 up in a tree. As the season advances, their desire 

 towards it increases, and they take up their position on 

 the very tree it is in ; and finally a particular branch 

 near the oven, commanding a good view of the entrance,, 

 is chosen for a permanent resting-place. Here they 

 spend a great portion of their time in song, twitterings , 

 and loving dalliance, and, if attentively observed, they 

 are seen with eyes ever fixed on the coveted abode. As 

 the need for a receptacle for the eggs becomes more 

 nrgent they grow bolder, and in the absence of the 

 owners flit about the oven, alight on it, and even enter 

 it. The Oven-bird appears to drive them off with 

 screams of indignation, but the moment he retires they 

 are about it again, and, even when it contains eggs or 

 young birds, begin impudently carrying in feathers, 

 straws, and other materials for a nest, as if they were 

 already in undisputed possession. At this stage the 

 Tree-Martins (Progne tapera) perhaps appear to com- 

 plicate matters ; and even if these last comers do not 

 sudceed in ousting the Oven-birds, they are sure to seize 

 the oven when it becomes vacant, and the Sparrows, in 

 spite of their earlier claim, are left out in the cold. 

 But they do not take- their defeat quietly, or, rather, 

 they 'do not know when they are beaten, but still remain 

 to harass their fellow-pirates, just as they did the Oven- 

 birds before, bringing straws and feathers in their 

 beaks, and when forced to drop these materials and 

 chased from the neighbourhood with great noise 

 and fury by the Tree-Martins, it is only to return 

 undaunted in a few minutes, bringing more straws and 

 feathers. 



" This Sparrow makes a rather large nest, neatly lined 

 with horsehair, and lays five eggs, long, pointed, the 

 entire surface thickly marked with dull chocolate 

 brown." 



I imported this species from La Plata in 1893, and 

 turned it into one of my birdroom aviaries with the 

 common Saffron-finch. The male died soon after 

 I received it, but the female, as already stated, interbred 

 with the better-known species and produced young, 

 which again bred until eventually no characteristics of 

 S. pelzelni remained. 



Dr. Russ seemed to be unaware of this species as a 

 cage-bird ; but, coming from the Argentine Republic, 

 it is probable that it is not infrequently received and 

 sold as the common Saffron-finch. 



