32 Favourite Foreign Birds. 



white bar on the wings, is jet-black. The female is 

 smaller, and of a rusty-black or brownish colour. I 

 am not aware if it has bred in confinement. The 

 song is very sweet and melodious, but I can scarcely 

 endorse my friend's opinion that "the ' Bicudo ' is 

 the best songster in the world." It was supposed 

 to be delicate, and required to be kept very warm : 

 under these conditions my bird became entirely bare, 

 but regained its plumage when placed in a cooler 

 situation than the kitchen, where I had been advised 

 to put it. 



THE ST. HELENA SEED-EATER, or GREEN SINGING 

 FlNCH, Crithagra butyracea, is a South African species, 

 acclimatised at St. Helena, whence most of those seen 

 in this country are imported. It is a very pretty little 

 bird, about the size of a Siskin. The breast is yellow, 

 the back greyish, and the eye surmounted by a narrow 

 streak of bright yellow. The female only differs from 

 her mate by being a trifle smaller and generally 

 duller in colour. This species has bred mules with 

 the canary, and rears its own young very freely in 

 confinement, making an open nest in a bush or in 

 a nest-box. It is a delightful songster. Food : canary- 

 seed, millet, and sorghum. 



THE GREY SINGING FINCH, Crithagra musica, is 

 a pretty little creature grey above, with white under- 

 parts. It is a native of Western Africa, and is, if 

 possible, a sweeter singer than the preceding species, 

 and should be fed and treated like it. This bird 

 has bred in confinement, but I am not aware of 

 any mules having been obtained from it, though such 

 should not be impossible. 



