THE



Hvicultut^al /nbagasiiie,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICULTURAL SOCIETY.



VOL. IV. — No. 46. All rights reserved. AUGUST, 1898.


THE WHITE-EARED GRASSFINCH.


(Poephila leucotis).


By Reginai^d Phillipps.


M)^ experience of the subject of this paper is not a

lengthened one ; and consequently there is a possibility that a

longer acquaintance with the species may cause me to take a

different view of some of the fadls and fancies gathered up to

date, and now about to be recorded.


A dealer told me, not very long ago, that he would never

buy a White-eared Finch again as it could not bear a journey,

all of his having died when sent on their travels. It may be

useful to note, therefore, as tending to point to a want of robust-

ness in the species, that the first pair I purchased was sent an

unnecessary journey owing to the absence of the ordinary

elements of care. Of the five I have had, these two alone have

ever shewn signs of sickness, one dying within the month, and

the other, although still alive, being delicate, and not likely to

make old bones.


These first two birds greatly won my heart ; and since

their advent I have regarded the species as quite one of the

nicest of the small seed-eaters. It is not gaudy, yet the shades

of colour in a good specimen are exceptionally chaste and

delicate ; it is, as a rule, of a gentle and amiable disposition,

quiet, and the reverse of restless, yet not dull and listless ;

the love song is quaint and almost pretty — quite so to my avi-

culturally-tuned ears ; and, when there are several together, they

occasionally burst into quite a tiny blare of trumpeting delight.

They have a funny little way, too, of assembling on the ground

in a group, with heads raised on high, and of all starting oflf

together in an excited chatter, as if raising their voices against

some infringement of their privileges or curtailment of their

liberties ; or sometimes three will join together and say nasty



