302



Mr. R. Phiujpps,



Africa , Birds, I., p. 105)—“ A nest taken in June, in the Northern

Transvaal, was built about four feet off the ground in a thorny

bush. It is round in shape, with a side entrance, and is loosely

constructed of dry grass lined with a few feathers. The eggs,

three in number, are pure white and measure 0.72 x 0.50. It is

somewhat curious that this delicate-looking little bird should

breed in mid-winter,when the nights are decidedly cold, but I have

frequently noticed the seeming indifference of many of the South

African small birds .... to temperature. Many breed in mid¬

winter .... Not unfrequently the same species will nest again

in the height of summer.” Ret not any unwary Britisher think

from the above that he may with impunity expose his Violet¬

eared Waxbills to the cold wet and chill raw damp of our cold

season. I desire again to draw especial attention to this point as

on more than one occasion my old male, when passing the

summer and autumn in the aviary, displayed serious symptoms

of having had too much “ fresh air,” which subsided, but perhaps

the cause was never wholly eradicated, after a little coddling

in a small well-covered cage in my dining-room. The earliest

symptoms of there being anything amiss with these birds that I

have been able to detect is an undue desire to sleep. As I have

already inferred, it does not die off in a hurry, but holds on to

life right well, thus gaining a reputation for hardiness that it

does not possess.


I think we shall not be justified in assuming from the above

that this species usually breeds in June in the wild state. It is

unlikely, and the supposition is emphatically negatived by the

behaviour of my birds ; and only one solitary nest is mentioned

as having been found. All the same it is comforting for us to

learn that the Violet-eared Waxbill is so far superior to prejudices

and conventionalities as not to be above breeding in the month of

June should it suit its convenience to do so. South Africa is a

large place with diversities of land and climate, and the bird

may behave differently in different Districts. The statement that

“ the same species will nest again in the height of summer” is

no proof that the same individual birds ever nest both in the

winter and in the summer.


Mrs. Reid of Madeira mentions (O.S. III., pp. 151-2) two



