53



strong dislike to seeing it molested in any wa}^. *It comes freely

in and out of all houses, and will almost feed from the hand.


The Moorish House Bunting is about the size of a Hedge

Accentor. The cock is of an almost uniform chestnut colour

above and below, the tail dark brown with the outer feathers

edged with chestnut, the head ash grey with a dark line through

the eye, the basal half of the lower mandible bright yellow, the

legs and feet flesh coloured. The female has the head brown

striated with black, the upper parts the same, the chest and

abdomen light uniform chestnut. In a wild state the nest is

usually placed on the top of a wall under the eaves, or in

any crack or cranny. If the space is too large for the nest

the Bunting will fill it up with lumps of earth, bones, or any

rubbish, and hollow out its nest in one corner and line it with

roots, grass, hair, feathers, in fact anything that is handy. In

an aviary it will build in an open box, and is also very fond of

patching its nest on to a beam. The eggs, three to five in

number, are like small strongly marked eggs of the Snow Bunting,

and three or four clutches are laid in the year. The j^oung

are reared on insects, which are swallowed and then disgorged

for the young. I have fed mine principally on small green

caterpillars, moths, and small mealworms that had just shed

their skins ; and the old birds also seem to find a lot of food

among the heaps of weeds provided daily.


The old birds eat any small seed, but show a preference

for the seed of grasses and various weeds. The}^ do not roost on

a perch if they can help it, but prefer a retired ledge or cranny ;

in a cage the}^ frequently roost on the bottom. Mine have stood

the cold of the last two winters perfectly well in an open aviary,

with the roofed-in portion entirely open on the south side. The

cock has a sweet wild song, very frequently uttered. The call

note is peculiarly loud for the size of the bird.



IV.—THE BLACK-VENTED BISHOP.


By A. G. ButlBr, Ph.D.


In the autumn of the past year, I had a chance of

purchasing a number of Weavers out of colour at a nominal

price; and as I hoped to get a fair sprinkling of males of

Pyi'omelana franciscana and P. afra, I did not let the opportunity

of securing the birds slip. As, however, I turned most of

them into an unheated aviary, they are extremely slow in

developing.



