180 Birds I Hcwe Kept. 



by hand, on ants' eggs, gentles in the pupa stage, and scraps 

 of raw meat. 



Mules are said to have been obtained between these birds 

 and the Canary: but I very much doubt the fact, from the 

 different mode of feeding peculiar to the two species. 



Decline is the usual cause of the death of the Indigo Bunting 

 in captivity : it may be prevented by a liberal supply of insect 

 food, especially during the period of moult; but once it has 

 declared itself it cannot be cured. 



CHAPTER LXV. 



THE IfONPAKEIL. 



THIS wonderfully beautiful bird is a near relation of the 

 Indigo Bunting, hailing from the same region, feeding 

 on the same kind of food, and having the same habits, except 

 that it does not come into, and go out of, colour, but retains 

 its gorgeously tinted dress right through the year. 



The head and neck of the adult male are violet, with a 

 red circle round the eyes; the upper part of the back and 

 the shoulders are yellowish green, the lower part of the back, 

 the rump, and aU the under part of the body are red; the 

 lesser wing coverts are violet brown, with a reddish tinge ; 

 the flight feathers are brown, bordered, some of 'them with 

 grey, and some of them with red; the two central tail feathers 

 are vermilion, and the others brown with red edges. 



The female is of a dull olive colour throughout, darker on 

 the back than on the lower portion of the body. 



The young resemble their mother, and do not acquire their 

 full attire until the third year of their age. 



The scientific name of this bird is Emberiia ciris; the French 



