WAXBILLS. 



159 



end, and was composed entirely of fine grass, and well 

 hidden at the base of a thorn bush by a thick growth 

 of the same yellow grass as the nest was composed of. 

 The eggs, four in number and pure white, would be 

 hard to distinguish from those of many of the other 

 small Weavers." 



According to Mr. Jackson, writing of the species as 

 seen by him at Kibwesi, near the northern base of 

 Mount Kilimanjaro : " This pretty little bird is found 

 everywhere in the country. Its nest is made of dry 

 gra?s, and is found in various positions, such as in a low 

 bush, in a mimosa or acacia tree, thirty feet from the 



of all the Waxbills. Only well-feathered specimens 

 should be purchased, and always iu the spring ; more- 

 over, it is best to purchase several pairs. If these points 

 are attended to, a sound pair may be secured which will 

 live for years. 



Formerly it was supposed that the Cordon Bleu (or 

 "Butterfly Finch," as the Germans call it) could not be- 

 kept at a lower temperature than 70 degrees Fahr., but 

 I kept my first pair, under most unfavourable condi- 

 tions, at a winter temperature often falling to 40 de- 

 grees, for eighteen months. Since that time I have had" 

 a bird in good health and lively at a temperature of 



VIOLET-EARED WAXBILLS. 



ground, in the thatch of a native hut, or in the deserted 

 nest of the common Yellow Weaverbird." 



The call-note of the Cordon Bleu is a sharp thin 

 whistle, usually twice uttered, and not unlike the call- 

 note of our English Blue-tit. Its song, which is only 

 heard in the breeding season, is usually sung as an 

 accompaniment to a ridiculous dance ; moreover, the 

 cock, like many of these small Weavers, always holds 

 a long straw or bent in its beak as it sings, which adds 

 to its grotesque appearance ; the song itself is of no 

 great account, but is bright and lively " Tezier, tezit, 

 tezit, tezee," very shrilly uttered. 



This is one of the most abundantly imported and un- 

 fortunately, until acclimatised, one of the most delicate 



24 degrees. Lastly, the Rev. C. D. Farrar has both 

 kept and bred this tiny Finch in a large garden aviary 

 in Yorkshire. 



In 1898 I had five examples of this species, three of 

 which had been in my possession for two years ; one df 

 these was still in excellent health at the end of 1907. 

 On the other hand, I bought two pairs, apparently in 

 the best possible condition, in 1906. and shortly after- 

 wards, when the weather became warm enough, turned 

 a pair into an outdoor aviary in the hope of breeding 

 the species, and the hen of the other pair into the indoor 

 aviary in which the old cock bird lives. Next morning 

 both hens were dead, and shortly afterward the cock 

 out-of-doors also died. I gave away the odd bird, which 



