Experiences of Foreign Finches and Sof thills. 27o 
Star (Ri;ficai;da) I'"inchks {BaihiVla rnficauda) 
stayed very wvW and nested freely, choosing low th'n k shrubs 
and young' trees as nesting sites. A number ot young were 
reared, but in the autumn the birds began to disappear, and, 
to save a good breeding stock for the coming year I caught 
up all that remained. This proved a mistake as they did very 
badly in confinement, and so few were left that I did not 
keep them through the winter. 
LoNd-TAiLED Grassfinches {Pocpliila acuHcauda) 
stayed fairly well and bred on several occasions, but the mort- 
ality among thein when newly imported was always very high. 
Some lived for nearly three years at liberty. 
Parson Finches {Poepliila cincta) also did pretty 
well and maintained themselves for a considerable time, but 
as with the Long-tailed Grassfinches, it was difficult to get 
really healthy birds to start with. 
Zebra Finches {Tacniopygia caslano'Js) mamtained 
themselves for a few years and bred freely. They were also 
good stayers when first released. One of the original pairs 
had evidently contracted the vice of feather-plucking badly 
while on the journey. In an aviary they would jjrobably 
have picked their young all over, but the natural conditions 
under which they lived caused them to modify their evil pro- 
pensities, so that their children always left the nest with bald 
heads, and bare necks, but were otherwise well [eathercd 1 
Orange Weavers {Pyrotnclana franciscanci) do bet- 
ter than any other Finches I have tried at liberty, and the 
cocks when in colour are a lovely sight. They breed freely, 
building their flimsy grass-nests in brambles and low shrubs. 
The eggs, one, two or three in number, are hedge-sparrow-blue 
and very pretty. The number of hen birds should be con- 
siderably in excess of that of the cocks, as they are poly- 
gamous, and the males, even when at liberty, are very apt 
to destroy nests containing eggs if their time is not fully occu- 
pied in building for new mates, after their first ones have 
begun to sit. 
Madagascar Weavers {Foudia madugascariensis) 
seem rather inclined to wander, but 1 only tried quite a few. 
Red-billed Weavers {Qaelea queLca) are very shy 
and nervous, and, the majority stray very soon after their 
