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this article is that Mr. Wiener mentions it in his book on

Foreign Cage-Birds. It has been kept at the Zoo.


The colours of the male are black and white, and the bird

derives its name from the shape of the white patches on its neck

and cheeks—there is also a tiny spot of white below the eye.

The female is light brown. It is about the size of the White-

throated Finch.


The Spectacled Finch is indigenous to Ecuador.


The Beuish Finch (.Spermophila ccerulesens )


Apparently called the Bluish Finch because there is no

blue in its plumage. It bears a very strong resemblance to the

White-throated Finch, from which, however, it may readily be

distinguished by a patch of black immediately below the beak,

and by the absence of an alar speculum. The female is brown.


There is some difference of opinion about the song : one

writer says “ It is possessed of a nice song; ” Dr. Russ describes

it as “ monotonous, chirping, but not unpleasant; ” Mr. W. H.

Hudson calls this bird the Screaming Finch, and adds, “ The

male has a loud startled chirp, also a song composed of eight or

ten notes, delivered with such vehemence and rapidity that they

run into each other and sound more like a scream than a song.”


Dr. Butler has possessed this bird, but it is very rare in

England, though fairly common (according to Dr. Russ) in

Germany.


It is found in Southern Brazil, Paraguay, the Argentine

Republic, and Bolivia.


The Gutturae Finch (Spermophila gutturalis).


This bird is rather more frequently met with than the last

four species. Its colours are sombre, and it cannot be called

pretty. The general colour of the upper parts of the male is

dull olive green, with a small white spot on the wing ; the

head, neck, and throat are black, or almost black; the breast

and under parts pale yellow. The female is dull olive brown

above, and yellowish white below. It is slightly smaller than

the White-throated Finch.


I found this bird an adtive, chattering little creature.

My bird had no real song, but it died before it had fully

attained adult plumage, so its vocal powers may have been

undeveloped. Dr. Butler tells me that he finds it to be “ a very

fair singer: the song being not unlike that of the White-throated

Finch, but less scroopy.”



