132 



FOEEIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



1881, ,p. 486), consists of seeds of Lupinus /omentosus, 

 but doubtless it a'.so eats insects, and probably other 

 seeds. 



According to Russ, this species does well in captivity, 

 and bears the journey to Europe excellently ; lit has 

 been exhibited at the London Zoological Gardens. 



ALATJDINE FINCH (Phrygilus alaudlnus). 



Head, back, chin, throat, and sides of body bluish- 

 grey ; rump and upper tail-coverts rather paler ; mantle 

 and scapulars broadly streaked with blackish ; median 

 and greater wing-coverts and flights black edged with 

 silvery-grey, browner on the secondaries ; tail-feathers 

 black, except the two central ones, which are brown ; 

 the black feathers with an elongated white patch on the 

 inner webs ; the outer ones also with the basal half of 

 the outer webs white ; lores black ; breast, abdomen, 

 front of thighs, and under tail-coverts white; nights 

 It low du-sky, with ashy inner margins; beak yellowish- 

 brown ; feet pale chrome-yellow ; irides dark brown. 

 Female above pale earth-brown, greyish on nape, rump, 

 and upper tail-coverts, streaked throughout with dusky 

 brown ; primaries with narrow greyish-white margins _to 

 outer webs ; greater and median coverts and secondaries 

 darker brown, broadly bordered with buff and pale red- 

 dish-brown ; tail nearly as in the male, but edged and 

 tipped with silvery-grey ; cheeks, sides of neck, and 

 breast pale buff, narrowly streaked with brown ; lores, 

 chin, and throat huffish-white ; sides of body like the 

 back; abdomen, flanks, thighs, and under tail-coverts 

 white ; axillaries and under surface of wing silvery-grey ; 

 beak yellowish-brown; feet yellow; irides brown. 

 Hab., Andes of Chili and Peru to Ecuador. 



Bartlett (" Monogr. Weavers, and Finches') quotes 

 Mr. Bridges for the following note on the habits of this 

 species . __ This little bird makes its appearance in the 

 summer months ; inhabits corn-fields ; builds its nest on 

 the ground, and lays four to five whitish eggs with brown 

 .-pots. The native name is Pichiquina." He tells us 

 also that Mr. L. Fraser sent home examples from 

 Calacali which is situated at a height of 8,000 feet 

 above the sea-level, where he remarks it was _ not 

 uncommon ; food small seeds and grubs ; lives entirely 

 on the o-round amongst the heather; when disturbed, 

 takes an undulating flight for about sixty or eighty 

 yards." H. Whitely, during his travels in West Peru 

 took the nest near Arequipa in March, 1868, "made of 

 coarse grass, lined with finer grass and placed on the 

 ground in fields of lucerne. The eggs are very like 

 those of our Yellowhammer." This is a very vague 

 description when one remembers the manv utterly dis- 

 similar variations of the eggs of that species. 



\ccording to R.USS this species is easily reconciled to 

 captivity ; ft has been exhibited more than once in the 

 London 'Zoological Gardens. 



DIUCA FINCH (T)iura diitra). 



" Above grey, sides of head darker ; wings and tail 

 blackish, edged with grey; lateral rectrices tipped with 

 white below grey ; whole chin and throat and middle 

 of the belly white ; lower flanks and crissum stained 

 with rufous; bill plumbeous; feet dark hazel; whole 

 length 6.3 in., wing 3.3 in., tail 2.6 in. Female similar, 

 but tinged with brownish, and colours more obscure." 

 (P. L. Sclatrr). Habitat, Chili and Western Argentina. 

 Mr Ambrose A. Lane, in his "Field Notes on the 

 Birds' of Chili" (The Ibis, 1897, pp. 19, 20) says of this 

 species : " The sexes are of about the same size, and 

 alike, though as a rule the female is not quite so hand- 

 some as the male. They prefer civilisation, and are 

 invariably found about homesteads or tillage. In the 



cold season they may often be seen feeding on the 

 ground in large flocks ; they separate on being dis- 

 turbed. They feed on various seeds, especially grass 

 seeds, also berries, etc. About Santiago they nest from 

 the end of September to Christmas, varying further 

 south according to climate. At Valdivia the season is 

 five or six weeks later than as stated above. As soon 

 as the time of year comes on they display a great deal 

 of energy, and, like most Finches, are very active in 

 their nesting operations, and vociferous as well. The 

 nest is sometimes completed in three days or less, 

 according to circumstances, and if the birds are not 

 unsettled or disturbed. 



" The nest is placed from 3 ft. to 8 ft. from the 

 ground, and, as a rule, well concealed in a thick bush or 

 branch. 



" The eggs are laid to the number of three, being 

 usually completed within two days from the laying of 

 the first egg. 



" I found some nests with four eggs, but this is 

 unusual, and sometimes I found birds sitting on two or 

 even one egg. 



" Incubation lasts two and a half weeks or more, both 

 birds assisting. 



" The young are fed in the usual Fringilline manner, 

 on the pulp from the crops of the parent birds. They 

 attain their full size in about a month. 



" The young are browner than the old birds on leav- 

 ing the nest, which colour they retain for some time, 

 especially the females. 



" The usual chirrup of the cock is like that of our 

 House Sparrow, but he outdoes the latter in attaining to 

 a song in the summer. The song consists of a succes- 

 sion of loud clear notes, rather uneven in harmony, and 

 abrupt ; but, though it cannot be classed with the per- 

 formances of other Finches, still it is constantly uttered 

 in a cheerfully boisterous manner, which does a great 

 deal towards enlivening some Chilian localities, where 

 the singing birds are few. This bird is easily kept in 

 cages, and ought to breed regularly in an aviary." 



It will be at once noticed that, in this account, Mr. 

 Lane has omitted the two most important pieces of 

 information the materials and construction of the nest, 

 and the colouring and general character of the eggs ; 

 both are frequently omitted in his accounts of bird 

 habits, and render his notes far less valuable than they 

 would otherwise be. Fortunately, Landbeck has 

 described both nest and eggs. He says : " It breeds on 

 trees and bushes several times in the year, makes a large 

 nest of roots, fibres, feathers, hairs, rags, etc., and lays 

 five or six eggs of a whitish ground-colour, spotted and 

 scrawled over with grey." 



This species was bred in the London Zoological 

 Gardens in 1887, and in 1900 Miss Alderson bred it in 

 one of her aviaries. Her birds laid as many as five eggs 

 to the clutch, and she describes them (Avicultural 

 Magazine, ser. 1, Vol. VII., p. 181) as "about the same 

 size as those of the Robin ; pa/le blue-green in colour, 

 splashed all over with brown, not uniike a Rook's egg 

 on a small scale." 



There is not the least doubt that, as is the case with 

 most Buntings, the eggs vany considerably both in 

 ground-tint and markings. 



PILEATED FINCH (Cwyphos2nngus pileatus). 

 Above dark slate grey, paler towards the tail, greater 

 and primary coverts and quills black-brown, greyish 

 externally ; tail black, the top of head black with a 

 broad central band of shining carmine feathers, which 

 can be erected into a crest ; sides of head more or less 



