28



Mr. W. E. Teschemaker



1905, but they made 110 attempt to nest. I11 March, 1906, the

same birds commenced to carry building materials into a small

cupressus and, to give them a better chance, I enclosed them

and the cupressus and a pair of Accentors (which also

seemed inclined to nest) with some herring netting. It is

curious that the Accentors, though generally such shy birds,

nested successfully under these conditions, but the Chingolos at

once suspended operations. I then removed them to the

Waxbill’s aviary where, to my great astonishment, I one day

found two nests, within a few inches of one another, one contain¬

ing three and the other two eggs, and one Chingolo sitting in

each ! I11 a word the}'' were two hens.


The sexual characteristics of this species do not seem at

all well marked. I selected these two birds with some care.

One was a larger bolder bird and had a much more pronounced

crest—but it was a hen for all that.


This season I was not satisfied until I had obtained a bird

that actually sang, and then, having caught up one of my last

year’s birds, I was reasonably sure that I had a pair. I really,

however, can see very little difference between them, so far as

their outward and visible form is concerned, save that the

chestnut patch on the neck of the male is certainly brighter.


As this species has with me proved itself far from amiable

in general company, I turned them out by themselves in a

breeding pen this spring.


I11 their new quarters the male soon commenced to sing.

I think the song of this species must vary a good deal in

individuals. The Zoological Society turned out a good many

Chingolos in a pen near the Monkey House this summer, and I

noticed that several of them were singing quite a bright little

refrain consisting of a few preliminary staccato notes and ending

with a kind of trill, but my bird can only produce a monotonous

phrase consisting of generally only four notes, sibilant and long

drawn out, reminding one of the silvery cadence of the Willow

Warbler.


I regret that this season, for the reasons given above, I

have not been able to enter dates in my note book, but towards

the middle of July I first noticed the hen sitting. Owing to the



