94 FOREIGN FINCHES IN CAPTIVITY. 



Phonipara canora has been called Cuban Finch and Brown-cheeked 

 Grosbeak. These names are rather vagne ; and, therefore, the some- 

 what._ flattering designation of " Melodious Finch " is preferable. Very 

 little seems to have been published respecting the wild habits of P. 

 canora ; but respecting the allied P. bicolor* and its variety P. >narc/iii, 

 which differ principally in having no yellow on the throat, the following 

 facts have been made known : 



Messrs. A. & B. Newton say that it has a Bunting-like song, 

 which is always heard very early in the morning. It is said to 

 frequent the curing-houses, hopping on the uncovered sugar-hogsheads, 

 and making a plentiful meal therefrom. It is very sociable and feeds 

 in small flocks, mostly on the ground among the guinea-grass. The 

 crops of those dissected were usually found to contain small seeds. 

 They build domed nests in the low bushes, thickets of bamboo, or 

 among creepers against the side of the house, seldom more than four 

 feet from the ground, composed entirely of dry grass, the interior 

 being lined with finer materials of the same. The opening is on one 

 side, and is large for the size of the nest. They breed from the 

 middle of May to the end of July. The eggs are white, spotted with 

 red, especially at the larger end : usually three, very rarely four in 

 number. 



Mr. March speaks of it as the most common of the Grass Finches 

 in Jamaica, and as nesting, at all seasons of the year, in low trees 

 and bushes. Near homesteads, building its domed nest, it makes use 

 of shreds, scraps of cloth, bits of cotton and other trash. He also 

 states that the eggs are spotted rather with brown than red, vary 

 greatly in size and are from three to six in number. 



Mr. Hill again observes that this Finch very frequently selects a 

 shrub on which the wasps have built ; fixing the entrance close to the 

 cells of these insects : and Mr. Gosse seems not to believe in its song, 

 for he states that the only note of this species is a single harsh 

 guttural squeak, difficult either to imitate or describe. He evidently 

 did not get up early enough to hear the song. 



Dr. Russ calls this "The Little Cuba- Finch," and observes :" It 

 ranks high among the most graceful and beautiful inhabitants of the 

 bird-room ; in consequence of the remarkable ease with which it can 

 be bred, long the darling of all amateurs and breeders." "It is 

 reckoned among the rarer, at the same time more costly, whilst much 



* Phonipara bicolor is known as the " Bahama .Sparrow." Any bird which approaches 

 houses and builds its nest of rubbish, has a chance of being called a .Sparrow. A.G.B. 



