FIRE-FINCHES AND WAXBILLS. 



COMMON AFRICAN FIRE-FINCH (Lagonosticta senegala).* 



The male above is rosy crimson, somewhat browner on 

 the back and on the wing-coverts; the tail-feathers 

 black, washed with crimson on the outer webs ; the 

 head, throat, and breast rosy crimson, changing to buf- 

 fish brown on the abdomen ; sides of breast dotted with 

 white ; under tail-coverts white at base ; beak crimson ; 

 legs dark flesh-colour ; eye-ring yellow, iris brown. The 

 female above is dark brown, crimson on the rump and 

 upper tail-coverts ; a small crimson loral spot ; under 

 surface huffish brown, clearer on the abdomen, sides 

 dotted with white; wing brown, tail black. Hab., 

 Senegambia to the Niger. 



In its native country this tiny Finch affects the 

 inhabited districts, being met with in small flocks lin 

 towns and villages, where it constructs its nest in holes 

 and crevices of buildings; tJhe structure is said to be 

 untidy and inartistic, little more than a heajp of straw 

 lined with horsehair, feathers, grass, and wool. The 

 little 'white eggs vary in number from three to seven'. 



I know of no Waxbill so delicate as this ; indeed, I 

 have had many, buit never succeeded in keeping one 

 for more than seven or eight days. They appear to die 

 without any apparent cause, however perfect their con- 

 dition. Other bird-lovers were more fortunate, but 

 personally I consider it mere waste of money to pur- 

 chase this little bird, however cheap it may be. Never- 

 theless this bird has been freely bred in German bird- 

 rooms, and even in England Mr. Farrar appears to have 

 secured acclimatised examples in the summer of 1897, 

 which wintered in a cold indoor aviary, and in the 

 summer of 1898, built in a cocoanut husk hung low 

 down, laid two eggs and reared one young one. 



Dr. Russ says of it : " Not one of the Astrilds nests 

 so readily as thiis." The difficulty, however, is to get 

 acclimatised birds. 



BROWN-HEADED FIRE-FINCH (Lagonosticta brunneiceps). 



Differs from L. senegala in having the head and nape 

 brown ; sides of breast always spotted with white ; beak 

 vinous red ; feet reddish grey ; eyelids leaden grey <with 

 a fine yellow eye-ring ; irides reddish-brown. Female 

 like that sex of L. senegala. Hab. , " Nubia, southward 

 to the Rovuma River and westward to the Niger and 

 Upper Congo." (Shelley.) 



Capt. (Shelley {''Birds of Africa," Vol. IV., Part 1, 

 pp. 259, i260) quotes the following notes on the wild 

 life : " Heuglin met with these birds in tlhe town of 

 Dongola, at Berber, Senaar and Kordof an ; they were 

 gene-rally in small flocks and single specimens, mostly 

 seen in the 'warmer parts of Abyssinia and along the 

 White Nile, and according to his notes, they assume the 

 full plumage here in July and August, when they begin 

 to 'breed, often placing their nests close to each other, 

 at times under the roofs of houses and in holes in walls. 

 The nest has a large, irregular outer coating of straw, 

 covering a shallow depression for the eggs, and is com- 

 posed of hairs, feathers, grass and wool. The eggs vary 

 in number from three to seven. It is a lively little bird, 

 associating freely with other Finches, and 'Occasionally 

 will enter a house to ipick up the bread-crumbs. It is 

 rarely seen in trees during the day-time, when it is 

 generally seeking its food on the ground, often near 

 dwellings." The Hon. N. O. iRothschild and Mr. 

 Wollaston write : " These beautiful little birds were 

 never observed far from the huts on the river -bank, 

 where they were often seen picking up crumbs of dhurra- 

 meal almost out of the hands of the natives." 



My friend, Mr. A. L. Butler, has sent me the follow- 

 ing note from the Soudan : " A common resident. Very 



* Captain Shelley regards L. senegala and L. minima as the 

 same species, and the former is by far the older name. 



fond of the vicinity of houses and villages. A charm- 

 ingly fearless little bird, entering verandahs and out- 

 houses freely to drink from jars. I have seen it at 

 Khartoum !(aill the year), at Gedaref (April to June), at 

 Gallabat (June), Wad Medani (April and June)." Mr. 

 Hawker remarks : " Not noticed south of Gozabu-gumar, 

 but I found it at Fashoda and uip the Bahr-el-Gazal to 

 Meshra-es-Rek in iMarch and April. I saw a pair feed- 

 ing a newly-fledged young one at Khartoum, January 

 19, 1903 ; when. I approached to look at the yoning, one 

 of the parents fluttered about within a yard of me." 



Mr. Erskine Allon, who had this species in his bird- 

 room, considered it an exception to the general rule of 

 delicacy among the Fire-finches. From its close 

 resemblance to the Common African Fire-finch, it is 

 likely enough that this sipecies may not foe anything 

 like so rare in th bird-market as is generally supposed. 



Captain Shelley places the following species in 

 Reichenbach's genus Hypargos ; and although I am 

 generally following the nomenclature of the " Catalogue 

 of Birds " in the British Museum, the different 

 character of the wings necessitates thds alteration. 



PETERS' SPOTTED FIRE-FINCH (Hypargos niveiguttatus), 



Above chocO'late-brown, duller and more ashy on 

 crown; nape, back and wing-coverts tinged with 

 crimson ; remaining wing-feathers dull blackish, brown 

 externally ; rump and upper tail-coverts bright crimson 

 as 'well as the central tail-feathers ; the remaining 

 f eathers black internally, crimso'n externally ; sides of 

 head, throat and chest crimson ; remainder of under 

 parts jet black ; flanks thickly marked with large round 

 white spots; beak slate-black; feet reddish brown; 

 irides brown. Female with the sides of head brown, 

 instead of crimson ; chin buffish ; crimson of breast 

 duller than in the males. Hab. , Eastern half of Africa 

 from Inhambane to the Equator. 



An excellent coloured plate of both sexes of this 

 beautiful Waxbill was published in The Avicultural 

 Magazine, N.S., Vol. III., February, 1905. 



According to Captain Shelley ("Birds of Africa." 

 Vol. IV., Part 1, p. 241) Mr. H. F. Francis writes: 

 " It frequents 1 thick undergrowth and apparently finds 

 tits food among the leaves on the ground, as it is- 

 generally seen scratching aibout there." 



This bird was exhibited at th 'Crystal Palace by 

 Mr. Hawkins in 1903 and 1904. Mr. Seth-Smith thinks 

 that it shows some relationship to Pytelia, tout Capt. 

 Shelley says that Hypargos (to which genus he veiy 

 properly refers this species) has the second primary 

 " broad throughout its length (never the least sulcatecl 

 towards th end, as is the case in Lagonosticta and 

 Pytelia}." 



COMMON AMADTJVADE WAXBILL (Sporceginthus 

 amandava). 



In breeding plumage th cock bird is very handsome r 

 the upper part of the head and the back are deep copper- 

 brown ; the sides of th head, throat, and upper tail- 

 coverts brilliant coppery-red ; the feathers on the rump 

 and the tail-coverts -are also marked near the tip with 

 a round white spot ; the tail is black ; the breast is dull 

 coppery-red spotted with white, and the abdomen is 

 blackish-brown ; the iris of the eye and beak are bright 

 red, and the legs pink. Female brown above, with 

 the wings darker, spotted with white, a streak of black 

 enclosing the eye, and a whitish streak below it ; sides 

 of face greyish, throat pale buff, browner on the breast ; 

 remainder of under parts bright ochreous, greyish at the 

 sides. 



The colouring of the male birds is constantly altering 

 throughout the year, and at certain times closely 



