262



It is only fair to the Masked Grassfinches to add that I

have never cared so much for them, and have not, except

perhaps at first, given them such fair and favoured treatment as

the White Ears have received at my hands. This should be

borne in mind, and also that I have far too many companions

for them, for under favourable conditions they might have done

much better.


The Masked Grassfinch is a quiet, amiable bird, but, in

my opinion, is neither so elegant, so engaging, nor so rare as

the White Ear. It is quite as delicate, some think much more

so. Nevertheless it is a nice bird, which I most strongly

recommend our members to add to their collections—if they

cannot get the White Ear.


Feed on Indian, spray, and white millet, and canary seed.


Habitat — 1 North and North-west Australia.”



A NATURALIST’S NOTES IN ECUADOR.


By Walter Goodfeleow,


(Concluded from page 228 ).


In the present article I am going to write of some of the

birds from the lowlands or hotter parts of Ecuador, in the same

way that in my last article I wrote about some of those from the

higher mountain regions.


To begin with, I will take the Toucan-like Barbet ( Tetra-

gonops rhamphastinus ) from the forests of the Pacific side, as I

kept one of them for a time, at Gualea. These handsome birds,

in the texture of their feathers and arrangement of colours,

much resemble the Andigena laminirostris, and somewhat

strangely, too, the}- come from the same localities, between four

to six thousand feet, which is their usual home ; but, it is

probable that, like the Toucan, they range to a still higher

altitude at certain seasons of the 3 r ear. While we were collect¬

ing at Gualea, a boy brought me one of these birds, slightly

injured in one wing. He had it carefully tied up in his poncho,

and I naturally at once put my hand in to take it out, but I

could not have withdrawn it quicker had there been a snake in it

instead of a bird ; for it hung on to the back of my hand, and

would not let go until its beak was forced open with an awl. Its

tenacity was astonishing, and I never remember having a worse

bite from a bird, except from a Macaw. One has only to look at

its strong corrugated bill to realize the bite it could give ; beside,

the extreme tip of the lower mandible forms a slightly projecting



