74 FEATHERED FRIENDS. 



with the smallest and most defenceless of the Waxbills. 

 They are satisfied with a diet consisting of seed only, 

 but at the same time catch eagerly at any small fly 

 that comes within their reach, and spend a good deal 

 of their time on the ground among the grass. 



Much less hardy than the larger Red-crested Grey 

 Cardinals, they must be taken indoors as soon as the 

 evenings begin to grow chilly towards the end of 

 September, for cold distresses them very much, as they 

 evince by their restlessness and huddled- up miserable- 

 looking appearance. 



As they are natives of the Southern American Con- 

 tinent, their seasons are just the reverse of ours, and 

 during our fine weather they make no attempt to 

 breed, but pair and commence to make a nest when 

 the time has come for them to be removed from their 

 commodious out-door aviary into the house, where, as 

 a rule, they occupy a cage during the winter. 



With respect to the pair of these birds that were in 

 my possession for a time, the inclination to perpetuate 

 their race must have been small, for change of scene 

 utterly put a stop to it, although they were much more 

 comfortably situated, as tar as temperature went, in 

 their new than in their former abode: it is true they 

 had lost the comparative freedom they enjoyed in the 

 garden- aviary, and perhaps that was the reason why, 

 in disgust, they gave up the idea of building a nest 

 and rearing a brood of young, 



