without pulling it to pieces. The eggs are three in number, white and 

 spotted with black, sometimes bluish-brown spots are mingled with 

 the black. 



54. PAROARIA CUCULLATA (Lath.). 

 (CARDINAL FINCH.) 



Paroaria cucullata, Burin. La- Plata Reise, ii. p. 482 (Parana, Tucuman) ; Scl. 

 et Sah. Nomencl p. 30 ; Ditrnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 171 (Buenos Ayres) ; 

 Gibson, Ibis, 1880, p. 19 (Buenos Ayres) ; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 598 

 (Buenos Ayres) ; Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. p. 129 (Concepcion). 



Description. Above grey ; wing- and tail-feathers blackish grey ; head all 

 round, crest, and throat brilliant scarlet, the scarlet extending downwards to 

 the chest ; below white, the white colour extending up the sides of the neck ; 

 nape spotted with white : total length 8-0 inches, wing 4-0, tail 3-5. Female 

 similar. 



Hob. Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina. 



This well-known species is perhaps the finest Finch the Argentines 

 have. The entire upper plumage is clear grey, the under surface pure 

 white ; but its chief glory is its crest, which, with the anterior part of 

 the head and the throat, is of the most vivid scarlet. The song has little 

 variety, but is remarkably loud, and has that cheerful ring which most 

 people admire in their caged pets, possibly because it produces the idea 

 in the listener's mind that the songster is glad to be a prisoner. As a 

 cage-bird this Finch enjoys an extraordinary popularity ; and a stranger 

 in Buenos Ayres, seeing the numbers that are exposed for sale by the 

 bird-dealers in the markets of that city, might fancy that a Cardinal in 

 a cage is considered a necessary part of the menage of every house 

 in the country. This large supply of caged birds comes from South 

 Brazil, Paraguay, and the north-eastern part of the Argentine country, 

 where the Cardinals are most abundant and unite in large flocks. 

 Probably they are not snared, but taken when young from the nest, as 

 most of the birds exposed for sale are in immature plumage. 



The Cardinal in a wild state is found as far south as the province of 

 Buenos Ayres, but it is there a scarce bird. It breeds, Mr. Gibson 

 writes, at the end of October, and makes a shallow nest of twigs, vine- 

 tendrils, and horse-hair. The eggs are four; ground-colour white or 

 tinged with faint brown or greenish, and spotted with brown, more 

 densely at the large end. 





