138



Mr. W. T. Page,



These birds are indigenous to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil,

Patagonia and Uruguay: where, as already indicated, they lay

their eggs in the nests of other birds, and in my aviary the hen

has searched again and again, evidently for this purpose, every

closed nest box or log in the aviary. According to Mr. Hudson

the eggs vary much in colour: the greater number being pure

white, others faintly speckled with greyish pink when closely

examined; another fairly common variety being white, thickly

and closely spotted (or spotted and blotched, for some spots or

blotches are nearly J-incli an d irregular in shape) with red,

while a very rare variety is rich red entirely unspotted ; there are

almost an unlimited number of other varieties varying between

those described; I have seen three specimens which are almost

identical with those above described.


The male is 7J inches from tip of beak to end of tail, and

is glossy blue-black in colour, changing according to the way

the light catches it, to bronze-green, and purplish-bronze on

the head, neck, breast, back and shoulders ; the other parts being

dead black, which is also the colour of the beak and feet ; iris

brown.


The female is several shades of umber-brown, lighter on

the under parts, where it is almost greyish ; the greater part of

the wings (z. e. excepting the shoulders) are rich rufous; tail

blackish; beak and feet black; iris brown. The pair I am

describing I obtained from our member Mr. Housden, which

were I believe privately imported by him September 1903, coming

into my possession on December 29th. The weather was cold

and frosty, followed, for nearly two months, by cold, wet, damp,

or foggy weather, with only an occasional bright day. I had no

indoor accommodation, so I had to turn them out at once into

my outdoor aviary, which has no shed, its only shelter being the

gable of the roof, yet the birds did well, though they only got

seed for some months, and were in perfect trim right up to end

of April, the female right through ailing nothing at all ; but in

May the male was troubled with some throat affection ; this was

followed by a swelling, causing a bare patch, from which there

grew a substance (cheesy matter), £-inch diameter, and as large

and round as an ordinary marble, standing out from the throat,



