All Rif^lits Reserved. Skptf.mbf.r, 1921. 
BIRD NOTES: 
THE - 
JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB 
Breeding the Orange-billed Saltator. 
I)V I FKRliKKT 1'^ l^)Rr(;HT. 
Tlie story of my ( lroiiiul-(lrosl)eaks is, to me, a very 
interesting" one, and 1 will tell it from the l)ei;'innin,q'. 
Last anlnmn Air. Roi^'ers, of Livei|HKjl, wrote me that lu' 
had a consi.^'nnient of .South American birds in, so, on the look- 
out for rarities, I went round to look at them. Amoni;- them 
were some Lari;'e ISrown (irosbeaks, which were quite new to 
me, and 1 selected wlirit 1 thoui^'ht to be a true pair — time proved 
mv choice to he a correct one, but for some time I feared the 
one 1 chose as a hen would j)rove to be a youn.L;" male; it was the 
cleanest, stroui^'est, and most vigorous of the lot — some had 
dark horn-coloured mandible, and others had the low'er-mandible 
yellowish horn-colour. 
I am not sure what species they are, but the following' 
\-ery sketcliy description may be useful — I do not think they 
li.'ive been previously bred in thi-^ country — but they prove to Ik- 
not (iround (irosbeaks, but ( )ran!.;'e-billed Saltators {Saltatw 
(iiiraiitiirosfris). bein,^' one of the T ana i^ridac . 
Male : Top of head, \vin,L;'s and tail blackish-lirown ; fore- 
head, eye rei;ion, ears, and sides of neck black, bordered above 
by a varying' fawny-brown line; also a lariL^e bib of fawny-brown 
margined irregularly with l^lack ; throat, breast and underparts 
f'iwny-I)rown ; ujiper mandible blackish, lo\\ er horn-yellow. 
Female : Brownish-black above, with a tawny-brown 
mark at the back of the eye; underparts similar to male, but 
more dusky and no clearly defined bib; mandibles black. 
I took them home, and in a few days turned them out in 
the large aviary. The hen at once gathered a few sticks and 
straws together, and with a little hay made the beginning of a 
nest; this was never completed — in fact it was soon ignored. 
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