' On the Nesting of the Red-headed -, or Dominiean Cardinal. 267


NOTES ON THE NESTING OF THE RED-HEADED-,

OR DOMINICAN CARDINAL.


Paroaria larvata.


By Arthur G. Butler, Ph.D.


Although, according to the late Dr. Russ, this species is

more generally bred in Germany than P. cucullata, I cannot call

to mind a single instance of the rearing of a successful brood in

England ; yet, with a bird frequently imported, it seems im¬

probable that it should not have been bred.


As recorded in “ Foreign Finches in Captivity” I pur¬

chased my first example of P. larvata in February 1894, and as a

second example given to me early in 1895 proved to be of the

opposite sex, I turned the pair into one of my smallest aviaries

and hoped for good results : in this case, as in many others, I was

doomed to disappointment; for, although the pair played at build¬

ing and the discovery of a broken egg-shell on the floor clearly

proved that the hen was ready, no nest was ever completed.


After the death of this pair, I purchased no more

Dominican Cardinals (or ‘ Popes ’ as they are sometimes called)

until August 1903, when Mr. Housden brought me a very perfect

pair, which I turned out into one of my bird-room aviaries. At

the end of this aviary, near to the ceiling, is a sort of shelf of

brushwood, the base being formed of pea-sticks resting at one

extremity on a shallow square box screwed into the corner, at its

centre by a stout natural branch let into the wall, and at the other

extremity by nest boxes and the wire dividing this from the

adjoining aviary.


In March 1904 the cock bird began to sing vociferously to

the hen, and chase her about the aviary ; she sang in reply, but

in a lower key: shortly afterwards he began to carry about sticks

and straws, pretending to put them into the shallow box support¬

ing the end of the pea-sticks, but invariably carrying them away

again.


Early in April I noticed the hen also carrying sticks about,

and soon it was evident that a nest was being built in the

extremely cramped situation selected by the birds. By the third



