Nesting of the Rufous-backed Mannikin.



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those of the Mazatlan Solitaire (Myadestes obscurus occidentalis') of

Mexico, about which Mr. C. William Beebe writes so charmingly

in his interesting book—“Two Bird-lovers in Mexico”—which I

recommend to all aviculturists.


He says—“Without warning, from the green depths at

“ one side, there came several notes, creaky and harsh in tone,

“ and suddenly these seemed to melt and run together into a

“volume of marvellous sweetness .... excelling the songs

“ of all other birds in depth of feeling and sweetness. It was

“ the mystery and beauty of these tropical ravines embodied in

“song. Such was the song of the Solitaire, one of the marvels

“ of Mexico, for which we had hoped. It came and died away


“ before we had realized what we had heard.


“ .... It was a song impossible to describe—a gradually


“ ascending strain of interlacing, silvery notes, the tinkling

“ melody rising, as rises the sound of a crystal vessel filling with

“ water .... Now and then he plucked a small berry from a

“ twig near him, but his song grew no less clear, as he uttered it

“again and again.”


Townsend’s Solitaire is a bird which at once attracts

attention in a collection, for he is so unlike anything that English

eyes have ever seen, albeit so soberly dressed. His chief beauty

is in his eyes, which are particularly large and lustrous.



NESTING OF THE RUFOUS-BACKED MANNIKIN


(Spermestes nigriceps).


By W. E. Teschemaker, B.A.


The first young bird successfully reared in my aviaries this

season was a Cape Dove and, after taking two seasons to breed

this species and having at last succeeded, I was unlucky to come

across by pure chance an instance of its having been bred once

before. This was in April. In the first week of May two S.

nigriceps left the nest. I quite think that I bred this species in

May, 1907, at which date I saw a fine young bird flying, but it

was not independent. I was then laid up by an illness and, two

months later, when I looked for it, it could not be found.



