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alike in plumage, they can be readily distinguished by the

difference in size, the St. Helena Seed-eater being much the

larger bird—as large, in fact, as a good-sized Canary. Un¬

fortunately, there are no means of telling the sex of the Green

Singing Finch readily and with certainty. Dr. Butler says “ the

hen is paler in colouring than the cock, is somewhat browner

above, and has a white spot on the chin .”—Foreign Finches in

Captivity , page 36. But this white spot (if it always exists in

the female) is very difficult to detect, and the other differences

in colour are differences in degree only, and depend almost as

much upon age as upon sex; thus an old female may be much

brighter than a young male. In choosing a pair, a good plan

is to select one very bright bird and one much duller in colour.

But, of course, the test of song is the most certain.


Minute differences in plumage may be noticed in specimens

of this species, and some have supposed that there are more than

one species imported—it is probable, however, that these are, at

most, nothing more than local varieties of the same species.


I have referred to the note book which I kept at the time

when I bred the Green Singing Finch, and will give an account

of my treatment of these sweet songsters. They are, however,

by no means “ sweet ” to other birds, being most quarrelsome

little fellows, although some people differ from me about their

pugnacity.


When first the birds came into my possession, they were

turned into a waggon-cage a yard long and half-a-yard wide,

which contained about two dozen Waxbills of all sorts. As they

were so quarrelsome, not only in chasing each other about, but

taking hold of the other wee inmates and making them cry out, I

resolved to put them into a small breeding cage, never thinking

for a moment that they would breed—for it seemed to me that I

had been “ had,” and that, instead of a genuine pair, they were

two cocks. However, to give them a chance, I removed the

nesting boxes and division at the end of the cage, and, in their

place, put a cocoanut shell which had part of a cowhair nest-bag

pressed tightly into the bottom and sides. This the birds

altered but very little, and a tiny piece of chickweed and half-a-

dozen blades of grass, which they carried up, w 7 ere all the

additions that they made to it. I have found that it is a mistake

to allow birds to have access to a lot of building material, for

when I first began my apprenticeship to the breeding of foreign

birds, with Zebra Finches, they would, after sitting a few days,

carry up chickweed, grass in flower, and even a?its ’ eggs, and

entirely cover their eggs.



