4'?^ Canaaies aw Cage-Hikos. 



scalded or soaked millet-seed and egg-food, or fresh ants' eggs, and the pairs live in great 

 affection for each other. The plumage of the female resembles closely that of the male, but 

 the brown marks are a trifle less distinct. 



YELLOW-RUMPED SEED-EATER {Crithagra AngoUnsis), South-western Africa. 

 Fringilla Augolciisis (Russ), FringiUa tohaca, Linaria AngoUnsis, Linaria atrogitlaris, Fringilla iiropygialis, Polhspiza Angolensis. 

 •English dealers' name — Angola Singing Finch. German name — " Angolahiiufling," or " Gelbbilrzeliger grauer Girlitz." 

 French name — " Chanteur d' Angola." 



The Angola Singing Finch, or Yellow-rumped Seed-eater, is very similar to the Grey 

 Singing Finch, but has a yellow patch on the rump, whilst the latter is white on the same 

 part. The quality of his song is much inferior to that of his near relation. In other respects 

 the birds are nearly identical. 



ST. HELENA SEED-EATER {Crithagra hityracea). South Africa. 

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

 Fringilla hutyracea — Hartlaubi — (Russ), Fringilla iclera, Crithagra chrysopyga, Serinus chrysopygus, Serinns idera, Crithagra 

 Hartlaubii, Fringilla flarijrons (?), Crithagra Mossambica. English dealers' name — Green Singing Finch. German 

 name — " Hartlaubszeisig. " French name — " Chanteur Vert," or "Chanteur de Mozambique." 



Next to the Grey Singing Finch, the St. Helena Seed-eater — for which bird I prefer 

 the name of Green Singing Finch — is the best songster among the small foreign Finches. 

 Mr. Rutledge's brush renders a description of his plumage superfluous. 



I cannot resist quoting verbatim Dr. Russ's charming and graphic description of this little 

 favourite of mine, as an example of my enthusiastic friend's powers of observation and 

 description : — 



" From afar we hear a clear melodious note. Repeated again and again, we fancy the 

 same song is faintly echoed. Attentively listening and watching, we observe that the hen 

 answers each warble of the male. But great becomes our surprise that the two birds, 

 evidently a pair, should worry each other in the liveliest manner. From early morn to late 

 in the evening the male pursues the hen-bird, without giving her a moment's rest through 

 the whole long day. 



" When, at the beginning of my experiments in breeding, I was not yet sufficiently acquainted 

 with this bird, I had almost become convinced that I had an old and a young male instead of 

 a pair, the more so as the colours of the latter were nearly as bright as those of the former, 

 and as his song was loud and powerful. Just as I was on the point of separating the birds, 

 I luckily discovered the first preparations for nesting. 



" It is a very frolicsome life which a pair of these birds lead in their honeymoon. Their 

 constant disputes and quarrels had at first prejudiced me considerably against them, but I 

 soon found that roguish and wanton teazing alternated with effusions of graceful tenderness. 

 Their tenderness for each other is not so fervent as that of the Astrilds, but is displayed 

 rather in graceful gambols, culminating in dove-like caresses, the male feeding the female 

 from the crop, and immediately afterwards again chasing and pursuing her." 



I found the Green Singing Finch enduring for many years, and breeding without difficulty 

 in a moderately warm aviary, in which he did not in the least inconvenience a large number 

 of other small Finches. This species is much more frequently offered for sale than the Grey 

 Singing Finch, and less delicate than the latter. 



