146 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



1907. Mr. Page also had a specimen. It resembles the 

 following species, excepting for the absence of the black 

 cap. 



REDDISH FINCH (Spermoj/hila nigro-aurantia). 



The Reddish Finch is one of the smallest cagebirds ; 

 it is cinnamon in colouring, with the crown to the nape 

 black, giving it somewhat the aspect of a miniature 

 Bullfinch, the throat and centre of under surface paler 

 cinnamon than the remainder of the body ; the flights 

 are black with greyish-brown borders, the middle 

 primaries Avhite at the base, forming a white patch 

 when the wing is closed ; tail feathers black, tipped and 

 edged with pale brown ; beak blackish, feet dark brown, 

 iris brown. The female is olive brown, the centre of 

 body yellowisHi-white, becoming ochreous buff on under 

 tail coverts ; flight and tail feathers brown edged with 

 olive. Hab., 'Southern Brazil. 



Mr. W. A. Forbes (The Ibis, 1881, pp. 335-336) says 

 that he obtained this bird at Recife frequenting the 

 same localities as 8. gutturalis and S. hypoleuca. He 

 says " the Brazilians call it ' Caboclo,' a name applied 

 to the tamed aboriginal Indians in Pernambuco. It may 

 sometimes be seen in Recife in cages with crowds of 

 sundry other Spermophiloe, Canaries (Sycalis), Car- 

 dinals (Paroaria), etc." 



Burmeister says of it (" Syst. Ueb.," III., p. 251) : 

 " Common in the whole of Brazil in small and larger 

 flights, especially to be noticed in numbers on the 

 millet-fields ; they keep quite quiet ; when scared off 

 they fly away without a cry. I have never heard a 

 song, though I have so frequently observed it in the 

 environs of New Freiburg. I also met with the bird 

 at Lagoa Santa." 



The nidification appears to be undescribed. 



The male is a sweet singer, though not often heard 

 in an aviary ; possibly in a flight cage it might be a 

 more frequent performer. It is perfectly harmless, 

 and a great addition to any aviary of tiny song birds, 

 Its habits in a wild state appear to be similar to those 

 of its congeners. It ought to be more freely imported, 

 as it is not a rare bird in Brazil. 



This is one of tJhe prettiest and most pleasing, but 

 one of the least freely imported, of the better known 

 Spermophilce, and therefore is rarely to be obtained at 

 a low price, although I was fortunate in this respect. 

 I picked my bird out of a crowd of Spermophilce sold 

 indiscriminately at 3s. apiece. I was amused, the year 

 following, to note an advertisement by the same dealer 

 offering a specimen of this rare little Finch for 20s. My 

 bird lived to a great age, but towards the end of its 

 life became slovenly in its toilet, so that its skin was 

 not worth preserving. 



COLLARED FINCH (Sj)ermophila cucullata). 



Above black ; scapulars grey ; lower back grey shaded 

 with ochreous, which becomes pure ochreous in a belt 

 across the Tump ; wing-feathers blackish, edged with 

 ashy ; inner lesser coverts and tips of inner median 

 coverts ochreous ; inner primaries externally white at 

 base ; upper tail-coverts blackish bordered with dark 

 grey ; tail-feathers blackish edged with brown, paler 

 at tips ; lores, a patch below front of eye, cheeks and 

 throat creamy-buff, the latter more ochreous ; a half 

 collar of ochreous at sides of neck ; a broad black band 

 behind throat, under surface of body behind the black 

 band tawny buff, pale excepting on under taij-coverts ; 

 thighs white, black behind ; under wing-coverts and 

 axillaries white ; flights below dusky, white towards 

 base of inner web ; beak greyish-horn, blackish at base, 

 yellowish at tip. Female above ' brown, slightly oliva- 

 ceous on head and back ; wing and tail-feathers dark 



brown with paler margins; sides of head and under 

 parts pale tawny buff, paler on abdomen and deeper on 

 under tail-coverts ; under wing-coverts and axillaries 

 huffish white. Hab., Northern Brazil to Guiana. 

 (Sharpe.) 



According to Burmeister ("Syst. Ueb.," III., p. 248), 

 this bird inhabits the outskirts of woods, especially 

 near settlements. I can find no other note of its wild 

 life. 



A pair of this Spermophila reached the London 

 Zoological Gardens in 1884. 



BLACK-BANDED FINCH (Spermophila torqueola). 



Above black ; lower back and rump pale tawny ; inner 

 primaries white at base of outer web ; tail fringed at 

 end with pale brown ; a white half collar at sides of 

 neck ; cheeks and under surface tawny reddish, paler 

 on throat ; a black collar behind throat ; thighs white, 

 black behind ; under wing-coverts and axillaries white ; 

 flights below dusky, with ashy edges becoming white 

 at base ; beak and feet blackish ; irides brown. Female 

 above pale olive-brown, more ashy on head and neck ; 

 wings and tail dark brown with olive-brown edges to 

 the feathers ; tips of greater wing-coverts and margins 

 of inner secondaries slightly rufescent ; sides of head 

 and front of body below paler brown than upper sur- 

 face ; the abdomen, lower flanks and under tail-coverts 

 pale tawny huffish ; under wing-coverts and axillaries 

 greenish white ; flights below as in male. Hab. , Mexico. 



I have found no notes on the wild life of this bird ; 

 a male was presented to the London Zoological Society 

 in 1895 by Mr. A. J. Oha-lmers. 



SPECTACLED FINCH (Spermophila ophthalmica). 



Above shining black ; feathers of lower back and 

 rump grey, subterminally banded with black and tipped 

 with white ; lesser wing-coverts white-edged ; greater 

 coverts with a linear white streak at ends ; bastard wing, 

 primary-coverts and quills white at base, visible 

 and forming a distinct speculum on middle primaries ; 

 a small white spot below eye ; cheeks, throat and sides 

 of neck white ; a black band behind throat spreading 

 on sides of chest ; remainder of under surface white ; 

 the flanks slightly mottled with black ; flights below 

 blackish with inner edges white broadening towards 

 base ; beak and feet probably black ; irides reddish. 

 Female above pale brown ; head and mantle greyer ; 

 median and greater wing-coverts blackish with rufescent 

 pale brown margins ; remaining feathers of wing dusky 

 with paler borders ; upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers- 

 pale brown, with paler margins ; lores huffish yellow ; 

 eyelid buffy white ; ear-coverts, cheeks, and under 

 parts pale huffish-brown, paler at centre of breast and 

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

 pale brown ; under wing-coverts and axillaries white, 

 the former slightly stained with brown. Hab. , Ecuador. 



Mr. W. Goodfellow (The Ibis, 1901, p. 473), in an 

 account of a journey which he took through Colombia 

 and Ecuador, says: "Very common at Santo Domingo 

 in October, where during the midday hours they 

 assembled in large flocks on the grass *around the huts." 



This species has been exhibited at the London Zoo- 

 logical Gardens, but it is naturally rare in the bird 

 market. 



LINEATED FINCH (Spermophila lineata.) 



Above shining greenish black; the lower back and 

 runup ashy with dusky subterminal markings to the- 

 feathers ; lesser 'wing-coverts edged with whitish ; 

 median a.nd greater coverts tipped with white, the 

 former broadly ; inner primaries white at base of inner 

 web; upper tail-coverts with ashy fringes; tail edged 



