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and a yeilôw body slightly marked with green ; its 

 wings are variegated with green, yellow, red and 

 black, and the tail is brown; when young its throat 

 is yellow, but as it advances in years is entirely 

 covered with a black hair, which begins to be visible 

 when the bird is six months old, and continues 

 growing until it attains the age of ten years, the usual 

 period of its life, at which time it reaches to the 

 middle of the breast, and its age may be very accu- 

 rately ascertained by the length of its beard. The 

 female is entirely grey, with a few yellow spots upon 

 the wings ; it has no beard, nor any song, but only 

 a kind of occasional whistle ; the note of the male is,; 

 however, very harmonious, and far surpasses that of 

 the canary-bird; when it begins to sing, it elevates 

 its voice by little and little, continues its strain for a 

 considerable time, and closes with some very sweet 

 trills ; it sings all the year, and is readily taught to 

 - imitate with remarkable grace the notes of other 

 birds. In the maritime mountains the siu may be 

 met with at any season, but it is found in the plains 

 of the middle provinces only during the winter, as it 

 quits them in the spring for the Andes, where it; 

 breeds. It makes its nest upon any kind of tree with 

 small straws and feathers; it has but two young at a 

 brood, but I am inclined to believe that it breeds seve- 

 ral times in a season. This bird multiplies astonish- 

 ingly, and may be seen every where; and although 

 the peasants, who eat as well as encage them, take 

 thousands every year, their numbers are not at all di- 

 minished; it becomes after a little time very familiar, 

 and even attached to those whom it is accustomed 



