on Nesting of the Scalij-fronted Finch. 363


above, the Zoo obtained one male. Mrs. Galloway also had one

male and I had two females which laid several clutches of eggs and

incubated with great perseverance. I endeavoured to put matters

straight by asking the Zoo to exchange their bird for one of my hens

and whatever young the pair might produce, but they would not

oblige me. I then suggested to Mrs. Galloway that we should toss

up, the winner to have a pair, but she said she would not care to part

with her bird and would much prefer to purchase one of my hens; so as

it seemed a pity that the species should not be bred, I sold her a hen.

With this pair Mrs. Galloway won Firsts at the Crystal Palace and

elsewhere, but no young were reared. The Zoo lost their bird

within three weeks, hut my remaining hen lived in my aviary for

three years and was then sold to an exhibitor.


Last winter a much larger consignment was imported into

Germany, from which I obtained a pair, but the long cold journey

was too much for them. I then obtained three more, which arrived

in fairly good order, but one bird insisted on roosting in the open

flight one stormy night and paid the penalty. The two survivors

were apparently hens. I have had such dreadfully bad luck with new

purchases during the past year that I almost decided not to give more

hostages to fortune ; however, I felt so sure that this species would

prove a most desirable addition to the list of birds really suitable for

English aviaries and only needed a fair start, that I finally purchased

a “ remainder ” of half-a-dozen specimens. The result has confirmed

my anticipations. This charming little bird has proved as easy to

breed as the Zebra Finch and it is as hardy as it is handsome.


Haagner tells us that the Scaly-fronted Finch breeds “ in

autumn ” (which would of course be our early spring) ; Stark says

that on the Orange River they build in March and April, on the

Limpopo in June and July. My first brood flew at the end of May

at which time most of the adults moulted ; the second brood on the

16th June. The third brood came to grief, the male being killed by

some Euler’s Finches on the 15th June, when the young were only

a few day’s old, and the female did not rear them. A fourth nest

produced only one youngster which flew on the 17th July. At the

present time I have three nests containing eggs or young, so that I hope

to have a sufficiently large series by the end of the season to introduce



