9 3



Dr. A. G. Butler,



in the autumn of 1876, which reached him in such a sickly con¬

dition that they soon both died. He concludes with the following

remarks :—“ Should the bird hereafter appear more numerously in

the trade, it might indeed be regarded as a desirable gain to the

bird-room ; as it shows itself by far more gentle and peaceable

than its allies. Unfortunately there is up to the present time

little prospect of this, as most Brazilian birds are only brought

to us in small numbers.”


In September 1903 Mr. James Housden was fortunate

enough to secure an unusually large consigmeut of kS. arvensis,

two of which came into my possession, and two into that of our

Editor ; of the latter one has unhappily since died, but mine are

still in excellent health although they have shown no inclination

whatever to breed. Mr. Seth-Smith thinks my birds may be two

males, and his may have been two females ; yet none of them

have attempted to sing: in the face of the account of the bird’s

habits given by Mr. Hudson this is remarkable. The following

is his description :—


“ This is a slender, graceful bird, less than the Canary in

size, the whole upper plumage yellowish olive, with dun mark¬

ings, the lower surface of a dull yellow. The female is a little

smaller than the male, and her colours are somewhat dimmer.

This species is resident and gregarious in the Argentine Republic,

and in autumn frequently congregates in flocks of several thou¬

sands. They are not so universally distributed as the Chingolo,

and are not wood-birds, but frequent open plains abounding in

thistles and other coarse herbage, which affords them shelter.

In cultivated districts, where their food is most abundant, they

are excessively numerous, and, after the harvest has been

gathered, frequent the fields in immense flocks. While feeding,

the flocks scatter over a large area of ground, being broken up

into small companies of a dozen or more birds, and at such

times are so intent on their food that a person can walk about

amongst them without disturbing them. They take flight very

suddenly, bursting into a thousand chirping, scolding notes,

pursue each other through the air, and after wheeling about the

field for a minute or two, suddenly drop down into the grass

again and are silent as before.



