LITTLE GROSBEAKS. 



Female uniform light brown ; paler, almost whitish on 

 the vent. (Thorpe.) Hab., Brazil to Bolivia. 



" Widely distributed over the Campos region in the 

 interior of Brazil, from St. Paulo up to Bahia, and 

 westward to the foot of the Cordilleras ; lives in small 

 companies in open spots, has a pleasant, melodious 

 voice, and is regarded by the Mineiros, who call it 

 " Batetivo," as the best songster of the interior. I say 

 the bird alive in Congonhas, in the possession of my 

 host, -who regarded it as a great treasure ; as._however, 

 it was its moulting season, and moreover winter, the 

 bird did not sing at all so long as I was able to 

 observe it." (Burmeister, " Syst. Ueb.," III., p. 243.) 



Mr. W. A. Forbes (The lUs. 1881, p. 336) says that 

 the Brazilians call this species " Patitiva de Parahyba," 

 " and o-ften pay considerable prices for good singers. 

 The eong is loud for the size of the bird, and rather 

 pretty, though monotonous." I have discovered nothing 

 respecting the nesting habits. 



Dr. Russ says that in the course of time he has on 

 several occasions received a single male or female from 

 Miss Hagenbeck, but could make no observations 

 beyond the fact that the song was in no way remark- 

 able. It has been represented in the London Zoological 

 Oardens since 1870. 



There is not the least doubt that individual males 

 of any species of song bird do not sing equally well, 

 and Mr. Forbes' remark that " considerable prices are 

 given for good singers " of this bird shows that it is 

 no exception to the rule ; therefore, as with Mr. 

 Farrar's White-throated Finch, we must conclude that 

 Dr. Russ's Plumbeous Finches were poor performers, 

 and did not fairly represent the song of the species. 



ETJLEB'S FINCH (Spermophila super clliar is). 



Above olive green ; wings, excepting the lesser 

 coverts and tail, dusky brown edged with olive ; 

 median and greater wing-coverts, tipped with buffish 

 white ; crown slightly darker than back ; lores, a 

 narrow eye-brow stripe and eyelid yellowish white ; 

 ear-coverts olive brown, streaked with white ; cheeks, 

 throat, and under-surface of body white ; sides, flanks, 

 and thighs olive brown ; under tail-coverts yellowish, 

 tinged with olive and brown at ba?e ; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries white, edged with greenish 

 yellow ; flights below dusky, ashy-whitish along 

 inner edge ; beak brownish "horn-grey, under man- 

 dible paler ; feet brownish-grey ; irides. dark brown. 

 Female darker, the tips of median and greater 

 coverts bright buff ; edges of flights more rufescent ; 

 eyelid and lores greenish yellow ; ear-coverts and sides 

 -of face dull olive ; throat greenish yellow ; breast and 

 sides of body yellowish olive-brown ; centre of abdomen 

 yellowish white ; under tail-coverts pale brown, yel- 

 lowish white at tips ; beak blackish brown ; feet black- 

 ish grey; irides brown. Hab., Brazil. 



Nothing appears to be known respecting the wild 

 life of this bird indeed. Rues observes that up to 1874 

 it was not thoroughly known to students, and had no 

 place in museums, whereas he had already received 

 two pairs _from Miss Hagenbeck, and was able to 

 describe it in detail. Russ, however, was unaware that 

 *V. euleri, described in 1874, was a synonym of 

 8. mperciliaris, described in 1869, and was therefore 

 "known under the latter name. 



Although Russ considers the bird quite uninteresting, 

 he tells us that after the first pair had died, the second 

 built a great shapeless nest openly in a bush in his 

 birdroom, and reared one young one, but he was unable 

 tw study the breeding, as at the time he was ill. His 

 hopes of a second brood were frustrated by a parrot 

 "biting the male bird to death, and he was not able to 



replace it. He subsequently saw single examples in 

 the possession of wholesale dealers. 



This species also has been exhibited in the London 

 Zoological Gardens. 



LAVENDER-BACKED FINCH (Spermophila castaneivenlris). 



Above blue-grey ; wing and tail feathers, excepting 

 Jesser coverts, blackish, edged with grey ; a small white 

 spot at base of outer web of inner primaries ; head a 

 trifle deeper grey than the back ; a small white spot 

 at base of mandible ; throat, breast, and abdomen deep 

 chestnut, with the sides, flanks, and thighs blue-grey ; 

 under wing-coverts and axillaries white, grey near edge 

 of wing ; flights below dusky, white towards base of 

 inner web ; beak and feet brown ; irides dark brown. 

 Female, above olive-brown, lower back and rump paler 

 and more rufescent ; wing and tail feathers, excepting 

 lesser coverts, dusky brown, with paler brown borders ; 

 lores, feathers round eye, ear-coverts, and body below 

 paler brown than that of upper surface ; the centre 

 of breast and abdomen, thighs, and under tail-coverts 

 pale buffish ; under wing-coverts and axillaries white, 

 tinged with greenish yellow ; flights below dusky, 

 whitish along inner edge. Hab., Guiana and Colombia 

 to Lower Amazonia and Peru. (Sharpe.) 



Taczanowski gives no account of the wiild life in his 

 " Ornithologie de Perou," and I can find nothing respect- 

 ing it elsewhere. This is one of the more beautiful of 

 the species of Spermopldla; it was first imported by 

 Mr. E. W. Harper in 1906, and he presented six ex- 

 amples to the London Zoological Gardens. Mr. C. T. 

 Maxwell possesses a specimen ; Mr. W. T. Page, I 

 think, received a pair ; and on November 25th, 1907, 

 Mr. Harper very kindly wrote offering me one as a 

 present, together with three other rarely imported 

 species ; they arrived on the 28th. 



FIRE-RED FINCH (S ' permopJiila minuta). 



Above brown, slightly olivaceous ; lower back and 

 rump chestnut ; upper tail-coverts greyish, olivaceous, 

 rufescent at edges' ; wings, except lesser coverts, and tail 

 blackish-brown ; the feathers with ashy, whitish or 

 pale brown margins ; central tail-feathers somewhat 

 ashy ; crown -slightly rufescent on forehead ; lores 

 dusky, ear-coverts pale olive-brown, with paler shaft- 

 stripes ; cheeks with a small white spot at base, other- 

 wise chestnut like under surface of body ; thighs rather 

 browner; under wing-coverts ashy, edged with whitish: 

 axillaxies creamy white, slightly rufescent ; flights 

 below blackish-brown, creamy- white along inner edge ; 

 beak blackish, paler at base of lower mandible. 



Female earthy brown, slightly olivaceous ; wings 

 dark brown, excepting lesser coverts ; bastard-wing, 

 median and greater coverts and secondaries bordered 

 with buff ; primary-coverts and primaries edged with 

 olive-brown ; tail feathers dark brown edged with olive- 

 brown and with pale tips ; sides of head and under 

 surface pale buffish brown ; the throat paler and some- 

 what ashy ; sides, flanks, thighs, and under tail-coverts 

 bright buff ; centre of abdomen creamy buff ; under 

 wing-coverts: and axillaries bright buff, with ashy bases ; 

 flights below dusky, whitish on inner edge. Hab., 

 Panama, through Colombia and Venezuela to Guiana ; 

 Trinidad Toba.go, Para. (Sharpe.) 



Mr. T! K. Salmon says (P.Z.S., 1879, p. 506): 

 " Builds in low bushes much the same sort of nest as 

 S. gutturalis, but of coarser grass." The eggs, 

 described by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin, are said to be 

 " white, clearly marked with several shades of rich red- 

 brown spots: axis .65, diam. .51." 



This is all I can discover respecting the habits. 



Mr. E. W. Harper presented four specimens to the 

 London Zoological Gardens in 1906, and one to me in 



