S/.YG/yc- Finch. 4 1 7 



illustrated in the introduction) to every other contrivance. In such a nest-box they form 

 a rough mould with fibres, grasses, and whatever else is to hand, in which four or 

 five eggs, closely resembling those of a Sparrow, will be Jaid in as many days. Male and 

 female sit alternately on the eggs, and in about fourteen days the young Saffron Finches will 

 be hatched. These, like the eggs, might be taken for a brood of Sparrows, but before leaving 

 the nest a greenish tint will begin to show on the nest-feathers of the brood. 



Any kind of soft food seems to do equally well for rearing Saffron Finches. A mixture 

 of egg, bread-crumbs, and scalded seeds will be found quite sufficient, but a few mealworms 

 or ants' eggs will also be readily accepted by the parent-birds, who when not breeding will 

 take little else than canary and millet seed. 



SINGING FINCH {Crithagra musicd). 



(Illustration drawn from live specimen in the Autlior's possession.) 

 Fringilla musjca (Russ), Estrdda viusica, Hypochcra jmisica, Fringilla leucopygos, Dryospiza leucopygos, Serinus leucopygos, 

 Crithagra leucopygia, Pholidocoma musica, Serimis miiskus. English dealers' name — Grey Singing Finch. German name — 

 " Weiss biirzeliger Grauer Sanger." French name — " Chanteur d'Afrique." 



However unpretending the grey and white plumage of the African Singing Finch may be, 

 and though the bird is absent from the list of the London Zoological Gardens, every amateur 

 should endeavour to obtain this little songster, for his musical talents are of a very high class 

 indeed. It seems marvellous that a little Finch, about as large as an Australian Zebra Finch, 

 should be able to sing so loudly and yet so sweetly, and no stranger entering a bird-room 

 in which the Grey Singing Finch was just pouring forth his melodies would suspect that the 

 very small bird sitting on the top of some branch was capable of such a song as was 

 just then heard. 



All amateurs of song-birds owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Russ for having practically 

 discovered the merits of this bird. Vieillot described a Grey Singing Finch bred in captivity 

 as long ago as 1790, but subsequently the bird seems to have disappeared from the market, 

 and to some extent from the cognisance of subsequent authors. When the demand for foreign 

 cage-birds increased, about the years i860 to 1865, dealers often mistook the Grey Singing 

 Finch for the female of the Ultramarine Finch or Combasou. Few of these unpretending 

 grey birds arrived, fewer still were sold, dealers and amateurs left them unnoticed ; and so 

 they might have remained if Dr. Russ had not made this Finch, like every other available 

 foreign cage-bird, a subject of careful study in his aviary. The rich music of the Grey Singing 

 Finch's song, which would scarcely be uttered in a bird-dealer's store-cages, could not escape 

 the Doctor's notice, and the attention of amateurs was soon drawn to him, with the result of, 

 for a time, increasing the demand and price. When imported in larger numbers, the Grey 

 Singing Finches often arrive sickly, and many die during the voyage or soon after, whereby 

 the cost of the survivors becomes considerable. Brilliant and gaudy-coloured birds sell rapidly, 

 and dealers find that the sober-coloured little songsters are, after all, only known to that 

 minority of amateurs who study books. Thus, a dealer who imports these songsters may 

 sell a few at a remunerative price, and find the others dying in his hands. The impor- 

 tation, therefore, decreased of late years to an extent much to be regretted. When once 

 fairly recovered from the fatigue of the voyage, the Grey Singing Finches live very well, in 

 a moderately warm temperature, on a diet of millet and canary seed, with green-meat, and 

 a very little egg-food now and then. They breed without difficulty, but best in a roomy 

 cage, building an open nest much like that of a Canary. The young birds are reared on 

 63 



