The Waxbill Family. 99 



The food and treatment of this species are the same 

 as in the case of those preceding. Many readers 

 will, no doubt, seeing that all these birds are of 

 African origin, be surprised to hear that they are so 

 hardy that they will even bear to be wintered out of 

 doors with impunity in this bleak climate of ours. 

 They must, however, of course have a snug aviary, 

 well protected from the weather, and especially from 

 the rain, which is far more fatal to them than the 

 cold. They must also have cosy nests, in which to 



FIG. 34. THE ORANGE-CHEEKED WAXBILL. 



pass the long, weary hours of darkness ; and, above 

 all, there must be no mice about to drive them out 

 of their comfortable sleeping places in the night, to 

 perish from fright and cold before morning. 



THE CINEREOUS WAXBILL, Estrelda c&rulescens, also 

 called the Lavender Finch, is another West African 

 species, about the same size as the last. The 

 general colour is a delicate lavender-grey, deeper on 

 the back, wings, and shoulders than on the breast 



H 2 



