152 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



BLACK-TAILED LAVENDER FINCH 

 (Lagonosticta perreini, //. Im-ana}., 



Above delicate blue-grey ; lower back and upper tail- 

 coverts deep crimson ; flights dusky, externally edged 

 with grey ; tail-feathers dull black ; a black line across 

 base of forehead, and a black streak through the eye; 

 base of chin black ; sides of head and throat pale bluish 

 ashy, deepening oil lower breast axillaries and abdomen, 

 and becoming smoky blackish on under tail-coverts ; 

 under wing-coverts white, ashy towards edge of wing ; 

 flights below dusky ; with ashy inner margins ; beak 

 grey ; feet black ; irides red. Female not differentiated. 

 Hab., Xatal and Zululand. 



Mr. Stark says (" Birds of South Africa," Vol. I., 

 pp. 101, 102): "Captain Shelley found this Waxbill 

 nesting in Natal, he writes in The Di'ts : ' Although it 

 is far from common at Durban, on the 8th of March I 

 took one of their nests containing two pure white eggs. 

 It was placed in a creeper overhanging the footpath, 

 and was easily reached from the ground ; in structure 

 it was very similar to that of 'Etr\l<Ja a.*trild, though 

 smaller and less compact, though made of the same 

 materials.' The Messrs. Woodward met with it in 

 Zululand, nesting in a small tree in the open country. 

 The nest, built of grass lined with feathers, contained 

 six very small white eggs. 



" I have on several occasions found the nest of this 

 species near Pinetown, in Natal, built both in bushes 

 and low trees. It is domed, loosely constructed of dry 

 grass and lined with feathers. The eggs, from four to 

 six in a clutch, are laid in December and March, for 

 these birds are double brooded. They are pure white, 

 and average 0.54 by 0.42. 



" The Grey Waxbill is nearly always in pairs, is very 

 tame, and feeds on the ground on grass-seeds and small 

 insects. Its note is a soft chirrup." 



Mr. Erskine Allon also had this epecies in his bird- 

 room ; coming from South Africa it would be strange if 

 it did not sometimes turn up in the bird-market, and 

 although Russ does not mention it, I should not be sur- 

 prised if it had sometimes been ignorantly sold as the 

 Common Lavender Finch. 



COMMON LAVENDER FINCH (Lagonosticta ccerulescens). 



The male above is pearl-grey, with the lower back and 

 upper tail-coverts bright crimson-lake ; the two central 

 tail-feathers crimson, dull, excepting at the edges, and 

 with black shafts ; remaining feathers dull black, more or 

 less dull crimson on the outer web ; flights, smoky- 

 brown, with greyer outer webs; a black loral streak 

 enclosing the eye ; cheeks, chin, and throat, pale pearl- 

 grey, deepening to sooty-grey on the abdomen, where 

 there are usually two or three white spots on the flanks'; 

 abdomen, from the thighs backwards to the vent, 

 blackish ; under tail-coverts, bright crimson ; under 

 wing-coverts, whitish-grey; flights below, sooty grey; 

 tail, slaty-grey ; beak, black, with lateral crimson 

 streak ; legs, blackish grey ; iris, greyish olive. 



The female may be distinguished, as Mr. Abrahams 

 proved to me, by the sooty rather than black 

 colouring of th^ hinder portion of the abdomen from 

 the thighs backwards. Habitat. Senegambia. 



All that is recorded of the wild life of this common and 

 beautiful Waxbill is that it lays white eggs which 

 measure 0.62 by 0.46. As all the Waxbills lay white 

 eggs this does not add much to our knowledge. 



In captivity this has always been considered one of 

 the most delicate of the Waxbills. I have repeatedly 

 purchased examples and tried to keep it both in cage 

 and aviary, yet. with one exception, have failed to 

 preserve life in it for more than a few months. This 



single exception lived in one of my aviaries for about 

 four years. 



As a rule, I should judge one year to be a long term 

 for this Waxbill to survive in captivity. Five perfect 

 examples purchased in May, 1898, were all dead 

 before the end of June, and from no apparent cause. In 

 spite of this general delicacy, however, it was bred by 

 Miss Roisie Alder-son in 1900, but in a heated aviary ; 

 they nested three times, but only one young one was 

 reared, and the hen bird died from egg-binding while 

 laying her third clutch of eggs. 



For feeding the young Miss Alder son provided, in 

 addition to seeds, crushed biscuit, preserved yolk of egg, 

 and maw-seed, given fresh daily; cut up mealworms, 

 some being put in over-night so as to be ready the first 

 thing in the morning, and she believes that ants' 

 also were given. (Cf. The Aricultural Magazine. 1st 

 Ser., Vol. VII., pp. 45-49.) 



Of course, the species has been bred in Germany, or I 

 should think so, since it has been successfully crossed 

 with the African Fire-finch. Dr. Russ lost 'his sitting 

 birds through the interference of Parson Finches. The 

 flight of the Lavender Finch is extremely rapid, which 

 one would hardly expect from the rounded character of 

 its wings. It can hardly be said to have a song, but 

 such notes as it utters are mostly clear and pleasing. 



BAR-BREASTED FIRE-FINCH {Lagonosticta 



Above brown; upper tail-coverts deep rose-colour; 

 quills dark brown with paler outer borders ; tail brown, 

 somewhat rosy towards base of outer webs ; base of 

 forehead, sides of head, throat, and breast/ rose-red, 

 paler and browner on abdomen, flanks, and thighs ; 

 some tiny white bars on throat and chest ; under tail- 

 coverts wihite, the longer ones brown edged with white ; 

 under wing-coverts bright buff; flights below dusky, 

 their inner edges greyish buff; beak violet-red, black 

 on culmen and lower edges ; feet dull reddish ; eyelids 

 yellow; irides pale dull brown. Female with no trace 

 of red on wings and fewer white markings on biv.-ist. 

 Hab., "Senegambia to the Niger and Upper White Nile 

 districts." ('Shelley.) 



The folio-wing notes on the wild life I take from 

 Shelley's " Birds of Africa," Vol. IV., Part 1, p. 263 : 

 " T. E. Buckley and I found the species to be extremely 

 abundant during the spring of the year, near Cape 

 Coast, generally in small flocks feeding along the paths 

 which intersect the thick bush." 



" Heuglin . . . records it from the Djur and Kosango 

 Rivers, along tihe banks of which streams he met with 

 a few during the rainy season. 



"Regarding its habits rusher writes: "This pretty 

 little Bengali is one of the commonest birds on the West 

 Coast of Africa. It is extremely tame, frequenting 

 the vicinity of houses, and hopping about the yards with 

 the confidence of the common House iSparnnv in 

 England. They buiild in low grass, on the seeds of which 

 they also leed, and are gregarious; in the Lush they will 

 ai&sociate in flocks with other Bengali.** 



" According to Mr. Kuschel the- eggs arc pure white 

 and measure 0.56 by 0.44. 



Dr. Russ seems to have been unaware of the- importa- 

 1 i(;ii of this Waxbill, and states that it must ever remain 

 a rarity, but in tihis conclusion I think he was mis- 

 taken. In 1898 the lati> Mr. Abrahams received a 

 tolerably large consignment, but they died off at such 

 a rate that T am afraid he made little or nothing out of 

 them; he sent .me quite a number of the dead bo 

 but all verv dirty and with frayed wing and tail- 

 featheis. The species w.is (xhibited at the Crystal 

 Palace in 1903 and 1904. 



