FINCHES AND NUNS. 24.") 



pair pleased them ; and they quickly busied themselves with it, and soon built a large 

 ball in the crest of a tree. The ball was nearly as cleverly constructed as a Weaver- 

 bird's nest, had a very small entrance ut the side, and formed a capital nest, in 

 which four or five pure-white eggs were laid, and hatched in the usual time of thir- 

 teen to fifteen days. 



The young brood is easily reared ; being fed oil millet and maw seed soaked in 

 hot water, aud strained, a little egg-food, and soaked ants' eggs. 



The Zebra Finch is a happy bird, contented in the cage alone, or in an aviary. 

 He is pretty, a delicate gray being the prevailing color. The lower body is white. 

 A patch of chestnut-color marks the cheeks ; and a band of chestnut-color, dotted 

 with white spots, ornaments the sides. The throat is gray, shaded with black ; the 

 black forming a sharply defined collar-like mark where it borders on the white of 

 the breast. The black tail is ornamented with white bars across each feather. 

 The bill is brick-red -. the feet also are brick-red. The female does not have the 

 chestnut-colored patches and bands on the cheeks and sides, and the lower body is 

 a dull grayish tint. The Zebras breed more readily than any other Finches, and 

 can rear twenty or thirty young birds in a season. Blakston states that his only 

 difficulty in breeding Zebras is their prodigious reproductiveness. This is due to 

 too stimulating food, which will result in the birds building nests, and laying eggs 

 without hatching them. 



If a healthy and apparently strong pair are obtained, it is advisable to keep 

 them for a time without nesting materials, and to feed them only on dry millet and 

 canary seed, with a little fresh meat at times. When the birds have become used 

 to their new home and surroundings, and when the perfection of their plumage 

 denotes their perfect health. and not before, give them an opportunity to begin 

 to nest. In a cage this opportunity is best given by fixing a roomy nest-box, into 

 which the birds will forthwith carry a mass of any material they can pick up. Bits 

 of hay and straw, moss, small twigs, wool, fibre, feathers, nothing comes amiss 

 to construct as slovenly a nest as any Sparrow ever built. Now is the time to give 

 the Zebra Finches a little extra food daily. A small quantity each of sponge-cake, 

 boiled egg, maw-seed, aud soaked ants' eggs, all mixed together, will be an ample 

 daily allowance for the pair, besides their regular millet and canary seeds. They 

 will soon lay four to seven very small white eggs, and hatch them in about eleven 

 days. In the larger aviary the Zebra Finch is showy and well disposed, has- a 

 pleasing song, and many odd, cunning traits not possessed by any other members of 

 the Finch family. 



The St. Helena Waxbill is similar in appearance to the Common Waxbill, but 

 somewhat larger than that tiny specimen. He has the same coral-red beak, the 

 same red line through the eyes, the same soft brown body-color, and roseate tint on 

 the breast. But the wavy cross-lines, which are faint on the plumage of the Com- 

 mon Waxbill, show very clearly on the St. Helena Waxbill. He is a gentle, peace- 

 able bird, graceful in motion, and considered remarkably handsome. In a collec- 

 tion comprising even many beauties, he is conspicuously attractive. His plumage 

 is always in good order ; and, though his song consists of only a few notes, he is a 

 most willing and cheerful vocalist. If furnished with suitable material, a pair 

 will build a shabby sort of nest, and hatch out the young in eleven or twelve 



