A FINCH OF ROSEATE HUE 77 



The wing is set off by a couple of whitish wing-bars. 

 There are also bars in the wing of the cock, but these 

 are not well defined. 



Seeing how beautiful the cock rose-finch is naturally, 

 and how successful have been the efforts to improve 

 the canary, it may seem strange that fanciers have not 

 turned their attention to the rose-finch, and produced, 

 by artificial selection, a rose-finch arrayed from head 

 to tail in crimson lake. 



The fact is all the crimson colour disappears from the 

 plumage of a rose-finch kept in captivity. Until some 

 means of preventing this is discovered it is hopeless 

 to attempt to breed a crimson finch. 



Rose-finches live in flocks, which consist usually of 

 from sixteen to thirty members. These flocks appear 

 to be made up of cocks and hens in equal numbers. 

 The birds feed on the ground, from which they pick 

 small seeds that have fallen. " In the extreme south," 

 writes Jerdon of the rose-finch, " I have chiefly seen 

 it in bamboo jungle, feeding on the seeds of bamboos 

 on several occasions, and so much is this its habit that 

 the Telugu name signifies ' Bamboo sparrow/ ' In 

 other parts of the country it frequents alike groves, 

 gardens, and jungles, feeding on various seeds and 

 grain ; also not infrequently on flower buds and young 

 leaves. Adams states that in Kashmir it feeds much 

 on the seeds of a cultivated vetch. 



During the greater part of the year the rose-finch is 

 a silent bird. At the breeding season, and a little 

 before it, the cock joins in the bird chorus. Its vocal 

 efforts are well described by Blyth as " a feeble twit- 



