384 Ca.vakies and Cage-Birds. 



my aviary the Pied Mannikins brought up a brood of young without my knowing it or 

 seriously intending to breed this bird. Dr. Russ and many amateurs in Germany have 

 also bred the species. 



HOODED FINCH [Spermestes cucuUata), West Africa. (Illustrated.) 



Spcnncstes cucuUata (Russ), Amadina cucullala, Loxia prasiptcron, Coccolhraustes scuiatus, Spermestes scuUdus. 



English dealers' name — Bronze Mannikin. German — " Kleine Elster Amandine." 



Tlie Hooded Finch is very much smaller than his near relation, the Pied Grass Finch, 

 and is one of the smallest of the Thick-billed Dwarf Finches. His body is short and stout, but 

 scarcely so large as that of the St. Helena Waxbills. When imported in large numbers and 

 first seen at a wholesale dealer's, this little Finch looks unpretending and of sombre plumage, 

 but on closer acquaintance, and when his feathers have been re-arranged after transfer to the 

 aviary, the Hooded Finch displays a beauty all his own. What appeared at first sight 

 a dull black tint of head, throat, wings, and back, assumes various shades of metallic 

 sheen. On the shoulders a few small feathers will become dark green, and on the sides 

 under the wings a similar lustrous tint will appear. The chest is pure white. Male and 

 female are alike. 



I do not remember ever having seen this little bird with his plumage greatly disordered, 

 and, as a rule, they arrive fairly hardy, and endure in a cage or aviary on simple canary 

 and millet seed diet. They will become perfectly tame, and make themselves as readily at 

 home in the smallest cage as in the largest aviary, building a nest wherever they think an 

 opportunity favourable for this enterprise, and taking whatever materials come to hand. But 

 they will fight courageously for the best place near the food, and in defence of their nest or 

 favourite perch ; and though one Hooded Finch in a cage containing a number of Waxbills 

 may be harmless, the introduction of a pair might end in mischief 



Although much smaller than the Pied Grass Finch, yet the Hooded Grass Finch has 

 been crossed with the former, also with the Cape Palmas Finch, and with the White Japanese 

 Mannikin. One male and two female Hooded Finches bred successfully, and, in short, the little 

 bird will bring up a number of broods in almost any favourable condition, but he is not 

 quite so hardy in cold weather as the larger Pied Grass Finch. 



CAPE PALMAS FINCH (.Amadina bicolor), West Africa. 



Spermestes bicolor (Russ). English dealers' name — Two-coloured Mannikin. 



German — "Zweifarbige Elster Amandine," " Glanzelsterchen. " 



Very similar in size and markings of plumage to the previously-described Hooded Finch, 

 I consider the Cape Palmas Finch far prettier. The entire upper part of the body and the 

 head, throat, and wings are jet-black, the lower body pure white. Male and female are 

 alike. In the Zoological Gardens only since 1872 — but these last few years by no means 

 rarely seen in bird-dealers' shops — the bird has, until now, been far more frequently bred in 

 captivity than observed in his native country, the Gold Coast. 



The Cape Palmas Finch does not breed so early nor so frequently as the Hooded Finch. 

 His manners and his treatment should be the same, but the Cape Palmas Finch is suspected 

 of being often individually quarrelsome, notwithstanding his diminutive size. 



STRIATED FINCH {Munia striata), India. 

 Spermestes striata (Russ), Loxia striata, Amadina striata, Fringilla leuconota, Lonchiira leuconota, Spermestes leuconota, 

 Uroloncha striata, Trichogranmioptila striata. English dealers' name — doubtful. German name — " Gestrcifte Bronze 

 Amandine." French name — " Grusbcc de I'isle de Bourbon." 



