I 7 I


In Part X. we have the Crimson-crowned, Oryx, Orange,

Russ’, Red-billed, Madagascar, Comoro and Baya Weavers.

While in many respects the illustrations of these species could

hardly be improved upon, the distinctive points of the females

seem to us in one or two cases not to be well indicated ; it may

be that the illustrations were taken from specimens which were

hardly typical. For instance, the hen of the Grenadier (Oryx)

Weaver is a darker and more heavily streaked bird than is here

represented, and the hen Madagascar Weaver which is illus¬

trated as a light olive-brown, is in reality darker, and of a more

decided greenish colour. Dr. Butler doubts whether the change

of colour in the Weavers takes place by a complete moult, as

stated on the authority of some travellers. As far as we have

been able to observe both in Whydahs and Weavers in captivity,

the change from winter to breeding plumage takes place by a

moult, the brightly coloured feathers growing up between the

duller ones, which gradually fall out. When the winter plumage

is assumed, however, the change takes place partly by the

coloured feathers turning brown; but some of the coloured

feathers, for instance the long tail feathers of the Whydahs and

the long tail coverts of the Orange Weaver, fall out.



This work has been reviewed in these pages as it appeared

in parts from the press, but now that it is at last completed, and

the handsome bound volume lies before us, we feel that it

demands some further notice—for the publication of “ Foreign

Finches in Captivity ” marks an era in the history of avicultural

literature.


We have already in this Magazine bestowed the highest

praise upon both the author and the artist, and we can now

only say again that the work of both is of the very highest merit

and that each is worth};' of the other.


The literature of aviculture, at least in our own language,

is by no means voluminous. There are only two books in the

English language which treat of the smaller foreign cage birds

in anything like an adequate manner—these are Mr. Wiener’s

portion of “ Cassell’s Canaries and Cage Birds,” and Dr. Butler’s

“ Foreign Finches in Captivity.” Mr. Wiener’s book has been

for many years the standard work upon the subject, and will

always remain of great value to the aviculturist on account of its

accuracy ; but it is now many years since it was written, avi¬

culture has greatly advanced in the interval, and many birds

which are now common aviary pets were unknown to Mr. Wiener

when he wrote his book; moreover, the chromo-lithographs in



