ioo FOREIGN FINCHES ix CAPTIVITY. 



the inner secondaries, dark brown ; upper tail-coverts yellower green ; 

 tail feathers black ; cheeks, throat and under surface of body bright 

 yellow, gradually becoming deeper in tint on the abdomen and under 

 tail-coverts ; sides of body regularly barred with white on a black 

 ground ; under wing-coverts creamy whitish ; edge of wings yellow ; 

 flight feathers below greyish. Length 4^ inches. Beak deep waxy 

 red, legs greyish flesh-coloured, iris pale brown. 



The hen is duller than the cock, the upper parts greyer, the 

 under parts much whiter ; the sides would be better described as barred 

 with smoky olive on a white ground (than white on black), the white 

 bars being wider than the blackish olivaceous ones. Length 4 inches. 



Two pairs of this very beautiful little Waxbill were given to me 

 by the Hon. Walte'r de Rothschild, in about the year 1890. In December, 

 1891, one of the hens built a nest in a box (of the cigar-box pattern) 

 in the Waxbill aviary, laid four eggs and began to sit steadily : a 

 Parson-finch, however, took it into his head to help her to incubate 

 them, and so frequently turned her out of the nest that, after a day or 

 two, she deserted it. During the spring of 1892 three of these Wax- 

 bills died, leaving me with only one cock bird ; but during the following 

 winter I purchased half a dozen from a friend at a very moderate 

 rate. I ascribed the death of the three mentioned above, entirely to 

 the fact that I had discontinued to use sea-sand for a time, on the 

 score of economy : very false economy ! I purchased three pairs in 

 1896, making my total number of this species up to eleven nine in 

 my bird-room and two in my covered outer aviary. The latter (a 

 pair) did not at first consort together, but with a pair of Lavender 

 Finches ; however, after the death of one of the latter, the Green 

 Amaduvades made friends and soon pecked one another's necks bare 

 a common trick of this species ; at the present time I have eight still 

 living, though two have been nearly dead and are now kept together 

 in a flight-cage. 



Compared with other Waxbills, I should regard the Green Amadu- 

 vade as decidedly hardy ; it never seems to have anything the matter 

 with it ; even those of mine which died in the third year of their 

 aviary life, showed no previous signs of illness, as some of these little 

 birds do (moping about in corners for weeks together) ; they simply 

 dropped out of existence, apparently without cause. 



Mr. Abrahams, however, informed me that according to his ex- 

 perience, the Green Amaduvade was a delicate bird, and he did not 

 think it would live long in an unheated aviary. It is one of the few 

 Waxbills commonly imported, with which I have not tried the ex- 



