Japanese Haic finch. 
15 
Mr. Peir, of Melboui-nc; Air. P'ro.stick, of Ralham; Miss A. B. 
Sniytli, of Catford, and others, liavo exliibitcd the species on the 
sliow Ivencli sinf^-ly and in ])airs; i cannot, liowcver, trace, 
except upon a single suppositive case, an instance of the 
othcj' si)ccies occurring on the show bench until 1S)14. Tius> 
had the .Japanese species, and b;)tli Ilagenbcck and .fami'acli 
imported an occasional e:;ainple; A\'einei' al o Icept it. M(\ssrs. 
DeVon, of London, had five examples early in 191 !, one of 
whicdi I Ivought, and caged. After a while it was not quite 
in good order, so I weaned it from sunflower and aftei'wards 
fed it almost entirely on canary .seed. From that time it 
speedily tightened up, and except for a little millet, linseed, 
and hemp, it has been fed on nothing else except such few grains 
of sunflcwer as I might occasionally give it. Now and again 
it would eat mealworms and gi-eenstufT, but was exceptionally 
partial to the beri'ies of privet, elder, and mountain ash or 
rowan. Although Icept in a roomy cage it went through a good 
moult, coming out pei-fect, and its i^luniage exhibited a good 
sheen. Except for a few squeaks it has uttered no note since 
I have had it, and when not washing (which it lilces to do 
daily) or feeding, it sits bolt upright like a sentry. As a 
cage bird it is about as interesting as an Europeiiu Hawfinch, 
but owing to its much longer tail hai'dly appears so clumsy. 
It is to be hoped that at some later date both sexes will 
be imported, for I feel confident that, under suitable conditions, 
it would not be difficult to breed. A description of the sexes 
of both species can be seen in the Museum Catalogue, and 
except for the colouring of the bill in the male of E. persovata 
agrees pretty well. It is therefore quite unnecessary to infiict 
upon my readers these particulars here, as I have no doubt 
tliat Mr. Goodchild will adequately describe with his brush 
the male of E. per son at a. 
♦ 
Breeding of Tri-coloured Mannikin x Bengalese 
Hybrids. 
By \V. a. Bainbridge. 
The season 1913-1914 was started with 3 Bengalese 
and 1 pair of Tri-colour Mannikins, and I hoped that one 
or other would breed, and the Bengalese certainly raised ray 
