374 Canaries and Cage-Birds. 



liue, is then a sight of rare beauty. The female is more sober in her appearance, the back being 

 brown, and the chest, abdomen, &c., a brownisli-yellow tint. The wliite spots are visible also, 

 but less numerous. If kept for many months in the vitiated air of a wholesale dealer's over- 

 crowded store-cages, the Avadavat will become almost black, and old birds sometimes have a 

 few white feathers. I had one very old male with two white centre feathers in his dark brown 

 tail. According to Dr. Russ, the Amaduvade Finches caught in large numbers in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Bombay are of niuch brighter crimson colour than those coming from other parts 

 of India, but do not readily breed in confinement. I found that the Avadavats, wherever 

 they came from, did not breed in my aviary, and I could never discover a noteworthy 

 difference. As the Austrian Lloyd mail-steamers run regularly between Bombay and Triest, 

 it may be that Avadavats from Bombay find their way direct, via Triest, into Germany, and 

 arrive with the bloom of newly-caught birds within three weeks of their capture ; whilst the birds 

 imported from Calcutta arrive via Marseilles or London, have a longer voyage, and remain 

 longer in the wholesale dealers' over-crowded store-cages, thereby losing much of their colour. 



Several pairs will live very peaceably together, and towards dusk they will all sit on the 

 same perch, very close together, selecting generally the highest perch in the cage. At 

 that time one and then another will suddenly raise itself and sing a little melodious stanza, 

 settling down to sleep when it is done. The female will sing nearly as well as the male. 



What has been stated above about the treatment, habits, and prospects of breeding the 

 Amaduvade Finches applies to nearly all the smaller African Finches. They are most charming 

 and amiable inmates of an aviary or aviary-cage, but their natural breeding season is our 

 winter. Any one who sets his heart on breeding them can do so by keeping them in a summer- 

 like temperature, providing them with the right sort of food and fair opportunities for nesting. 

 But to improvise an approach to an African climate is not very easy, and the very low 

 price at which most of these little birds can be bought makes the task of breeding them in 

 the cage not only a thankless one, but the difficulty arises for the successful breeder what to 

 do with the young birds, raised at infinite trouble and much expense. 



They will live in perfect beauty of plumage and in happiness for many years in a very 

 moderate temperature, and I would advise amateurs to content themselves with the charm of 

 the every-day life of these little creatures. Where many birds are kept in one cage I would 

 strongly advise the burning of a small lamp during the long winter nights, or for some hours 

 during the evenings of midwinter, as named in the introduction in the chapter on food. In 

 our northern climate the winter nights are too long for these little creatures to remain without 

 food, and as they will not feed in the dark, we must shorten the long nights by artificial light, or 

 risk that the birds are famished in the morning, and either lack strength to seek their food or are 

 driven away from the breakfast dishes by the strongest among them. 



COMMON WAXBILL {Estrelda cineied). West Africa. 

 (Illustration painted from live specimens kindly lent by Mr. Edw. Hawkins.) 

 Aigintha cinerea (Russ), Fringilla cinerea, Fringilla troglodytes, Estrelda cinerea et rttbriventris, Estrclda mdhiio/iygia, 

 Habropyga cinerea, Habropyga tiigtkanda. Dealers' names — African Waxbill, Senegal Waxbill, Common Waxbill. 

 German — "Graue Astrild," " Graues Fasanchen." French — "Astrild Ordinaire," "Becde CorailOrdinaire." 



This little bird is best described by referring to the excellent drawing. We have here one of 

 the smallest, one of the most nimble, and one of the most easily obtainable foreign Finches. A 

 cage, the wires of which are only a trifle more than half an inch apart, will rarely contain the 



