270



grey and green, instead of rich purple, and the purple line from

the gape is also paler. In July we shot a very young one of these

Pigeons on the Suno, which has the head, back and wings, dark

reddish-brown, barred with black, and across the upper part of

the breast is a broad band of dark dull grey, barred with brown

and fawn, which band on the adult bird is of the palest grey.

A few feathers on the head and back are just moulting to the

adult plumage. These were the only two species of Pigeons

we met with in the forests of Ecuador.


And with this I must bring these notes to an end. I had

intended, if time permitted, to have extended them to two more

articles, but I expect, by the time this appears in print, to be

about ready to leave England once more for a sojourn in far off

lands, in quest of more birds ; and if I am spared to return in

safety, it will give me great pleasure, at some future date, to

write again of my success and experiences, in the pages of this

Magazine.


NOTE.


I am sure that I am expressing the feelings of the whole of the

Avicultural Society, when I tender on its behalf very hearty thanks to

Mr. Walter Goodfellow for the series of charming and instructive articles

which, through the past year, have been such a great gain to our Magazine.

We hope that his next wanderings may be as successful and as fruitful as

those in Ecuador, and that on his safe return he may not forget the pages

of the Avicultural Magazine. EDITOR.



THE BREEDING OF THE INDIGO BIRD.


Fringilla cyanea*


By the Rev. C. D. Farrar.


By the Creoles of Eouisiana this pretty little bird is known

as the Petit Pape-bleu. It is a migratory bird, and arrives in the

Southern States from the direction of Mexico, with the Painted

Finch or Nonpareil. They are taken in great numbers by

means of traps. It is not a forest bird ; but prefers the outskirts

of woods, the little detached thickets, along the fields, and

is seen frequently perched on a fence or on some conspicuous

bough, whence it utters its really pretty song. The female

skulks in the thick brushwood, where her sober coat renders her

still more inconspicuous.


The Indigo Finch is rather a short stumpy little figure of

a bird, and, though not as gorgeous as the Nonpareil, he has not



Cyanospiza, cyanea. —Cat. Birds Brit. Museum.



