122 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



identical." Of the latter species he -writes : " Near the 

 mouth of the Columbia I found a nest of this bird in 

 June, 1854. It was built in a bush, not more than a 

 foot from the ground, formed of grasses neatly inter- 

 woven, and lined with softer materials. The eggs, if 

 my memory of them is correct, were four or live in 

 number, white, with thinly scattered dark spots near the 

 large end. 



" The song of tJiis species is loud but short, and 

 remarkably melancholy. It may be heard during the 

 whole year at intervals, and frequently at night, when its 

 sad tone seerhs peculiarly suited to the darkness." 



Rugs says " the bird (appears very rarely in the 

 market " ; it 'has appeared at the London Zoological 

 Gardens. In 1904 Mr. Seth-Smith was able to borrow 

 -a male of Z. li-umjiJiry.*, which he paired up with a 

 female Z. pileafa ; tho birds went to nest in May and 

 reared one young bird, went to nest again in June and 

 reared three. While in their nestling plumage the 

 young were not much to look at, but in their adult 

 plumage were rather pleasing. 

 GREY-HEADED SONG-SPARROW (Zonotrichia ccinicapilla). 



Above brown ; the mantle, upper back and scapulars 

 broadly streaked with black ; lower back and rump more 

 ashy and without streaks; lesser wing-coverts ash-grey; 

 median and greater coverts black, rufescent externally, 

 white-tipped ; nights blackish, primaries edged Avith 

 whitish, secondaries -with chestnut; tipper tail-coverts 

 and tail- feathers blacki.'ih-'brown, the margins more ashy ; 

 outer tail-feathers with .whitish fringes ; head ash-grey, 

 the forehead and eyebrow-stripe whiter ; lores, feathers 

 below eye, and ear-coverts blackish, the latter washed 

 with ashy and streaked with whitish, black along upper 

 margin to sides of neck ; the latter and collar at back of 

 neck chestnut, as well as the sides of the breast; a 

 'large white patch behind ear-coverts ; cheeks and throat 

 white, the former and the chin dusky at base of 

 feathers ; a black patch at back of throat ; breast ashy ; 

 abdomen and under tail-coverts yellowish-white ; sides 

 of breast and flanks more or less red-brown ; thighs 

 tishv with whitish tips to feathers; under wing-coverts 

 whitish, dusky at base ; axillaries pale yellowish brown ; 

 flights dusky with ashy margins to the inner webs ; beak 

 black or brownish flesh-coloured ; feet light grey or 

 brownish flesh-co>loured ; irides pale amber.* The female 

 has not been differentiated, but is probably slightly 

 duller. Habitat, Patagonia. 



Dr. E. Lonnberg, in an account of " Birds from N.W. 

 Argentina and the Bolivian Chaco" (The Ibis, 1903, 

 p. 451), says of this species: "Iris yellowish brown. 

 Very common at Moreno, feeding on seeds and insects ; 

 it builds its nest in stone walls and under the roofs of 

 ho'ii?es." He however explains that the Moreno 

 specimens " are to a certain extent intermediate between 

 Z. pilcata and Z. ranicapilla, having the coloration of 

 the former and especially the black bands on the sides 

 of the crown ; but they are much larger than Z. pileata, 

 almost attaining the size of Z. ranirapiUa. and I there- 

 fore refer them to that species." I f-ihould have thought 

 size less important than colour and pattern. 



Of typical Z. rrnncapilla Mr. M. J. Nicoll says (The 

 Ibis, 1904, p. 42): "This Finch is very common at 

 Punta Arenas, where I found it among the barberry 

 bushes. Its call-note resembled that of our Yellow- 

 hammer." 



On June 25th, 1897 (as recorded in The Avicultural 

 Magazine, 1st ser.. Vol. III., p. 197), a specimen of this 

 rare Patagonian bird was brought to me by Captain 



* I noted this colour in the livine bird. A. G. B. Mr. M. .T. 

 Nicoll speaks of them as "dark bro'vn"; perhaps they vary 

 occasionally. 



Carvosso, on board of whose ship it flew when a hundred 

 miles south of Cape Horn ; he brought it to me to dis- 

 cover what it was and whence dt came. I recognised it 

 at once as a near relative of Z. pileata, but differing in 

 its unstriped crown and pale amber irides. 



Captain Carvosso kindly gave me the bird in order 

 that I might have an opportunity to study it in cap- 

 tivity, but on condition that as soon as it died it should 

 be given to the museum authorities. 



Although in good plumage, the bird seemed dull and 

 listless, havdng evidently been fed upon unnatural food 

 since its capture. I took it home and turned it into a 

 spacious flight-cage; here it flew heavily, swallowed a 

 little grit and a few canary-seeds, but teemed very dull 

 and stupid. The introduction of a few mealworms and 

 cockroaches partly aroused it, so that it erected its crest 

 and hopped after one of the latter, but it evidently felt 

 too ill to exert itself, and presently returned heavdly to 

 its ,perch. In the morning it was dead, and I had to 

 take' it back to town with me ; it was disappointing. 



CHINGOLO SONG-SPARROW (Zonotrli-hifi /,i//ata). 



The male bird has the upper part of the head and 

 nape and the cheeks ash-grey, boldly and longitudinally 

 striped with black; superciliary area, slightly whiter 

 than the rest of the ground-colour, sides and back _ of 

 neck liver-reddish, back and wings ruddy brown, with 

 bold black shaft-stripes to the feathers, lower back and 

 tail smoky brown, the tail-feathers with paler borders, 

 lesser wing-coverts ash-grey, darker towards the base 

 of the feathers, median and greater coverts dark brown, 

 with paler margins and white tips, under parts greyisl 

 white, washed with brownish on the breast and abdo- 

 men and with brown on the flanks ; beak greyish brown, 

 the lower mandible paler, feet dull flesh-brown, iris dark 

 brown. 



The female ds slightly larger than the male, but very 

 similar in plumage. Habitat. Central America irom 

 Mexico to Panama, and throughout South America t< 

 South Brazil, Bolivia, and Child. 



Mr. Hudson says of this species (" Argent. Ornith.," 

 Vol I., pp. 58, 59) : "The common, familiar, favourite 

 Sparrow over a large portion of the South American 

 continent is the Ckingolo. Darwin says that " it prefers 

 inhabited places, but has not attained the air of dame* 

 tication of the English Sparrow, which bird in habits 

 and ^eneral appearance it resembles." As it breeds in 

 the fields on the ground, it can never be equally familiar 

 with man, but in appearance it is like a refined copy o 

 the burly English Sparrow more delicately tinted, tl 

 throat being chestnut instead of black ; the head smaller 

 and better proportioned, and with the added distinction 

 of a crest, which it lowers and elevates at all angles it 

 express the various feelings affecting its busy little 

 mind. " On the treeless desert pampas the Chmgo 

 is rarely seen, but wherever man builds a house and 

 plants a tree there it comes to keep him company, while 

 in cultivated and thickly settled districts it is exces- 

 sively abundant, and about Buenos Ayres it literally 

 swarms dn the fields and plantations.. They are not, 

 strictly speaking, gregarious, but where food attracts 

 them, or the shelter of a hedge on a cold windy day, 

 thousands are frequently seen congregated in one place 

 when disturbed, however, these accidental flocks imme- 

 diately break up, the birds scattering abroad an dif 

 ferent directions. 



"The Chinoolo is a very constant singer, his F 

 beginnincr with the dawn of day in spring and continuing 

 until evening ; it is very short, being composed of a 

 chipping prelude and four long notes, three uttered m a 

 cff thdnvoice, the last a trill. This song repeated 

 at brief intervals as the bird sits motionless, perched 



