60 FOREIGN FINCHES IN CAPTIVITY. 



its near allies, the Cow-birds and many Parrakeets, not only eat without 

 waste, but drop all the husks into the food-pan, until the seed is so 

 completely hidden, that they are compelled to stir it over in order to 

 feed at all. 



Dr. Russ mentions the fact that several pairs of this species have 

 been imported since 1880, and states that, "according to Dr. Frenzel, 

 it is strong and long-lived, quiet and tranquil, the song sounds like 

 ' t&jie view,' often repeated." I make it " we two" not /sec view ; but 

 perhaps there may be little variations in the initial sounds of the soft 

 notes uttered by different individuals of the species ; moreover the song 

 is so low that, in the vicinity of other louder-voiced birds, it must be 

 listened for to be noticed at all : it is rather plaintive in tone, and 

 would give one the impression that the bird was unhappy ; but so 

 would that of the Parson-Finch, one of the most self-satisfied and 

 j oiliest little rascals in the whole feathered world. 



Mr. Horatio R. Fillmer, wrote in January, 1894, respecting a 

 specimen of C. cristatus which he obtained in 1893, as follows: "I 

 bought my bird from Mr. Dashwood, of Beccles, last May ; Mr. Dashwood 

 disposed of him because he was too quarrelsome to keep with his other 

 birds, and at his age (86 or 87) he cannot be troubled with more than 

 one or two cages to attend to." 



"The bird was purchased from Arrowsmith, of Blackwall Pier, 

 in the Autumn of 1892, in wretched condition, and was called by him 

 a 'South American Crimson Finch." 



"Mr. Dashwood got him through the moult with great difficulty 

 and fed him too liberally on soft food. He told me that he fed him 

 on 'millet and canary seed, and a teaspoonful of Abrahams' Food for 

 Insectivorous birds in a little tin, besides two or three mealworms daily.' 

 But I found that he would scarcely touch canary or white millet and 

 only a very little spray millet; and, rather than let him starve, I had 

 to feed him chiefly on preserved egg and mealworms. I did all I 

 could to get him to take more seed, but he would not; and the too 

 liberal supply of animal food of course disagreed with him and he died 

 of inflammation of the bowels." 



"It was a very tame bird and would take mealworms or flies from 

 the fingers ; we never gave flies in any other way ; it was prodigiously 

 fond of them. It was certainly less lively than the Pileated Finch; it 

 seldom displayed its crest. I was very fond of it and its death much 

 distressed me." 



It was a new fact to me that the Red-crested Finch was quarrel- 

 some; in the cage with my three, when imported, there were three 



