WAXBILLS. 



155 



and of late years it has been bred by various members of 

 the Avicultural Society in open-air English aviaries. 

 When first imported it is somewhat delicate, though less 

 so than many of the other African Waxbills ; when once 

 acclimatised it lives to a good old age eight to ten years 

 being not exceptional. 



ORANGE-CHEEKED WAXBILL (Sporceginthus melpodus). 



The cock bird has a dark slate-grey cap, the back and 

 upper wing-coverts rufous brown, the flight feathers 

 rather darker, the upper tail coverts crimson, the tail 

 blackish, the outer webs just touched with crimson 

 towards the root ; the tinder parts are ashy grey, siTightly 

 browner on the belly, and tinted with rose towards the 

 vent; the beak and a little patch between the latter 

 and the eye crimson ; cheeks orange, legs greyish brown. 

 The hen is less brightly coloured than the cock, but 

 otherwise similar. Oddly enough Prof. Ridgway 

 describes the species (from- Porto Rico, to which island 

 it has been introduced) as possessing a female with no 

 orange on the side ^>f the head ; either his females are 

 birds in nestling plumage, or the West Indian climate 

 must (have greatly modified the species. Hab., 

 Senegambia to Angola. 



The following notes are from Captain Shellev's 

 " Birds of Africa," Vol. IV., Part 1, p. 213. Speaking 

 of the Gambia, he says : " In the latter district Dr. P. 

 Rendall found its nest, hidden in long grass, lightly 

 constructed of that material, and containing seven 

 white eggs; tihese measure 0.52 by 0.4." Mr. Boyd 

 Alexander writes: "The species is plentiful around 

 Kumassi, consorting together in large flocks. We 

 found a number of nests attached to the elephant-grass, 

 which we cleared away the day after the fort had been 

 relieved." 



This is an active little species, but rather nervous. 

 When feeding with many other small Finches it will 

 suddenly give a cry of alarm, and the whole crowd will 

 fly up in a startled rush, though nothing whatever has 

 really happened to cause alarm. I suspect that this 

 bird either has a bad conscience or is fond of practical 

 jokes ; there seems no other way of accounting for such 

 uncalled for panic. The Orange-cheeked Waxbill has 

 been bred in avianies, but my specimens showed no 

 inclination to do so. For breeding these and other 

 Waxbills, soaked ants' eggs have been recommended as 

 part of their diet, but I have never known any of the 

 ornamental Finches to touch this food, and therefore I 

 have entirely given up the attempt to induce them to 

 do so. Sponge cake dry, insectivorous birds' food, and 

 a fresh turf is all they need. 



Miss Alderson was, I believe, the first to breed this 

 bird in England, and in a cage! (See The Avicultural 

 Magazine, 1st Ser., Vol. VIII., p. 36.) 



I have found the Orange-cheek one of the most 

 delicate of the African Waxbills. It is most easily 

 kept in an aviary cage in ,a dwelling-room, or in a 

 room kert (after the German fashion) constantly at a 

 high temperature. Like all the Waxbills, it needs a 

 retiring place in which to keep snug at night, a warmly 

 lined cocoa-nut husk or plaited nest-basket being per- 

 haps the most satisfactory. Like some of the other 

 delicate species, I believe it is quite capable of being 

 rendered hardy by turning it into an outdoor aviary 

 about the beginning of June, and keeping it there until 

 after the commencement of the winter frosts ; but, of 

 course, it must have some shelter to retire to at night. 

 GREEN AMADTJVADE (Stictospiza formosa). 



Its back is olive-green, becoming golden-green on the 

 rump and upper tail-coverts ; the tail is black, and, as 

 with all the Waxbills, is constantly jerked fro.ni side to 



side ; the throat and chin are dull whitish ; the breast 

 dull yellow ; the abdomen and under tail-coverts bright 

 chrome yellow ; the sides of the body pure white, 

 transversely barred with black ; the iris of the ey^s 

 clear brown; beak, dull crimson; legs, flesh-pink. The 

 hen is a little pialer and duller than the cock. Hab., 

 Central India. 



In its wild state this bird's favourite haunts are fields 

 of sugar-cane or the dense jungle-grass on the banks of 

 streams and rivers. In such places the nest isi con- 

 structed, being, situated with its back to the stalks of 

 sugar-cane or grass, a leaf above and below being 

 woven into the nest, and a few others into the sides to 

 keep it in position. The nest itself is large, globular, 

 and compactly woven of coarse grass and strips of 

 sugar-cane leaf, the lining being of finer grass. The 

 entrance hole is in front, and is prolonged into a short 

 neck somewhat depressed so as to conceal the opening. 

 Five white eggs are usually deposited, which can in 

 no respect be distinguished from those of other small 

 Ploceine Finches. 



This Waxbill is by some aviculturists regarded as a 

 delicate bird, but 1 have found it longer lived and 

 hardier than any other species, not excepting even the 

 common Amaduvade. About 1893 or 1894 I purchased 

 eight of these birds in two lots . and in 1898 six or seven 

 of them are recorded as still living ; about 1899 they 

 began to drop off, but several of them survived for from 

 eight to ten years, I believe ; not one of them is 

 labelled, unfortunately, as regards date of its death. 



I have known this bird to endure twenty-one degrees 

 of frost without injury, proving it to be at least as 

 capable of resisting cold as the common Amaduvade. 

 Breeding in captivity is 1 very uncertain ; I have had 

 both nests and eggs in my aviaries, but the Green 

 Waxbills have always been disturbed by other birds, 

 and this has put a stop to incubation. In 1905, however, 

 Mr. W. E. Teschemaker succeeded in breeding it, and 

 again in 1906, when he sent me a young bird in order 

 that I might note its assumption of the adult plumage ; 

 unfortunately it died on September 16th. 



In the young plumage this bird is of a distinctly 

 yellower olive-colour on upper parts than the adults ; 

 the clear pale sulphur yellow and the black-and-white 

 striping of the sides and flanks are wanting ; the under 

 surface is washed with brownish buff, especially across 

 the breast, on sides and flanks, and thighs, there is a 

 diffused sulphur yellowish patch behind the breast, 

 which passes into white in the centre of the abdomen ; 

 the under tail-coverts are sulphur yellow, the beak is 

 black, inclining to crimson on gonys, the feet brownish 

 flesh-pink. 



When first imported Green Waxbills a.re- usually in 

 poor plumage, and if a specimen in this condition is 

 turned in with acclimatised examples of its own species, 

 the latter will all attack it, pulling out additional 

 feathers ; it is, therefore, best to keep newly acquired 

 examples by themselves until their plumage is renewed. 



The two kinds of millet (white and spray) commonly 

 used by aviculturists and a little canary-seed are 

 sufficient to keep this species in health, but all the 

 small Finches- delight in grass in the ear, which should 

 always be given when obtainable. 



RED-BROWED OR AUSTRALIAN WAXBILL 

 (JEgintha temporalis). 



Above it is olive-green, the flights with brownish- 

 grey inner webs ; upper tail-coverts crimson ; central 

 tail feathers black, the others brown ; crown of head 

 and nape slate-grey ; a broad carmine eye streak as 

 in the St. Helena and Grey Waxbills ; eyelid crimson 

 above, grey below ; sides of face and throat ashy, chin 



