THE VIOLET-EARED WAXBILL. 123 



nut brown; the lower abdomen and vent blackish; under tail-coverts 

 metallic blue; flight feathers dull brown, with pale inner web; length 

 5, ;l o inches; beak purplish with red tip; legs pi;rplish grey; iris red; 

 eye-ring red or greyish drab. 



The female is greyer above and yellower below than the male; 

 its throat whitish, the lilac on the face paler, and under tail-coverts 

 not blue. This bird has also been called the " Granat Astrild " and 

 the " Grenate Finch." Messrs. Sharpe and Layard were able to give 

 biit a meagre account of its habits in a wild state, as follows : 

 " Sir Andrew Smith found this species between the Kiegariep and 

 Kurrichane, and we have received it from Mr. T. C. Atmore from 

 Griqua Land. Writing from the Transvaal, Mr. Ayres says: 'The 

 first of these pretty birds which I met with I shot in the Mariqua 

 district, amongst some very thick _cover; and I afterwards found them 

 plentiful along the Limpopo ; they are generally in pairs, but some- 

 times three or four may be seen together. All the Estreldce are 

 pretty nearly alike in their general movements, and eat similar food.' 



" Mr. Frank Gates obtained the species at Tati, and Mr. T. K. 

 Buckley found it common in the Matabele country, where they go 

 about in small flocks. 



" Mr. Anderson observes : ' This species is not uncommon in 

 Damara Land, but is more abundant further north, and also at Lake 

 N'gami. It congregates in small flocks and feeds on little seeds, which 

 it seeks upon the ground.' ' 



Holub speaks of the resemblance of this Finch to the Weavers 

 and Whydahs, as regards its tasteful plumage, the change of the same, 

 and its manner of building. He must, therefore, have been acquainted 

 with the nest, though he fails to describe it, the eggs, or their number. 

 He, however, tells the same tale as other writers as to its seeking its 

 food (consisting of seeds and insects) among the grass and on the ground. 



Russ says that this Waxbill is " one of the first that was brought 

 alive to Eiirope (it had already reached Paris in 1754), but since 

 Vieillot's time, and up to the present, has almost entirely disappeared 

 from the bird-market. Considering its beauty this is much to be 

 deplored, and, therefore, I am all the more delighted that I have at 

 least once received this rare bird alive, and moreover, have seen it 

 several times. Fockelmann, in Hamburg, sent me in 1874, a male and 

 two female Granat Astrilds, and these must, moreover, have been the 

 first which had ever reached Germany alive." 



"Dr. Jantzen, of Hamburg, in the winter of 1869-70, acquired a 

 pair on a ship at Madeira, the only Granat Astrilds which he saw at 



