THE RED-CRESTED FINCH. 59 



of thistles ; it nests in dense scrub, tolerably high up, and lays three 

 to four white eggs, mottled with grey-brown from the obtuse to the 

 pointed end." 



" This beautiful bird is eagerly sought to keep in cages, in which 

 it thrives well and is fed upon crushed maize." * 



Layard shot an example of C. cristatus at Para, where he saw it on 

 low shrubs in a deserted garden. 



This and the Pileated Finch are rather difficult to catch by hand, 

 in a cage : the first time I put my hand over the Red-crested Finch, 

 even though he was ill, he managed to slide through my fingers, and, 

 being in moult at the time, left all his tail feathers on the sand ; the 

 second time, my bird was well up the wire and just turning to leap 

 on to the perch when I got fairly hold of him. 



In December, the second of my specimens, already adverted to at 

 the commencement of the present article, became decidedly ill : his 

 difficulty of breathing ceased to yield to remedies, this was followed by 

 cramp and ended fatally on Christmas morning : the third bird also 

 showed symptoms of pneumonia, which eventually terminated in death 

 on the loth January, 1894, and one of the Pileated Finch hens became 

 dull and listless in consequence probably of the damp cold nights, 

 although the temperature of their cage up to the middle of December 

 can rarely have been far under 60 degrees Fahr. ; it died at the end 

 of the month. 



Coryphospingus cristatus is a very wasteful bird, he will jump right 

 into a saucer of seed and scatter it far and wide, after the manner of a 

 Goldfinch or Siskin : then having thrown the whole over on to the 

 sand, he will hop about at his leisure and select his favourite seeds : 

 doubtless it is more natural to him to pick up his food upon the sand, 

 but it is not conducive to his health to do so in a confined area. Even 

 the use of seed-hoppers will not avail, for a wasteful bird will stir away 

 at these until they are empty, as I have repeatedly observed in my 

 aviaries. 



It has been suggested by some fanciers that if each kind of seed 

 is given in a separate receptacle, the birds will eat steadily without 

 waste. Unfortunately birds are like babies, they are not greatly given 

 to reflection ; therefore they do not recognise the fact that each dish 

 is distinct from the other. Let these plausible theorisers try the 

 experiment, and they will discover the fact that a wasteful bird will 

 always scatter his seed ; whereas such birds as the Bluish- Finch and 



* I found that my birds would not touch this food ; nor did they seem to care for any soft 

 food. 



