48 A. Morrison—The Genus Sporophila


tail coverts and tail feathers, black ; bill, black ; iris, dark ; feet,

blackish brown.


Juvenile Male. —At first resembles the adult female and gains the

full male plumage in a single moult.


Female. —Above ochreous brown, darker and washed with olive

on the top of the head and upper back ; lores and eye patch, ochreous

white ; ear coverts and sides of neck, pale ochreous brown ; cheeks

and under surface ochreous buff, paler on the centre of breast and

abdomen ; sides of body, flanks, thighs, and under tail coverts, pale

ochreous buff as well as under wing coverts and axillaries ; lesser

wing coverts like the back ; median and greater coverts dusky brown

edged with ochreous brown and tipped with yellowish white forming

a double wing bar ; rest of wing feathers dusky brown, with paler

fringes, innermost secondaries tipped with yellowish white ; tail,

brown edged with ochreous brown ; iris, dark ; bill, dark horn colour ;

feet, blackish brown.


Habitat. —Mexico to Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica.


References. —Russ, 572. Neunzig, 235.


In a wild state the Moreleti Finch inhabits farmland, frequently

consorting with Jacarini Finches. It is common near houses and is a

friendly bird. Seeds, berries, and insects are eaten, and it breeds in

January and February, building an open nest low down in thick bushes.

The clutch consists of two or three greenish-white eggs with brown

markings, and the hen alone incubates.


It is occasionally imported, but is quite one of the most delicate

Sporophilse. It is probably confused at times with the Black-banded

Finch, which it somewhat resembles. Mrs. Wharton-Tigar exhibited

a cock at the Palace two years ago, but it did not live for very long.

The one specimen I have had only lived a week. It might possibly

prove easier if fed principally on insectivorous food.


Rufous-collabed Finch ( Sporophila rujicollis)


I can find no description of this extremely rare Finch. There is

only one skin at the British Museum, that of a not fully adult male,

and I have not had an opportunity of taking a description of this.


Habitat. —Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and N. Argentine.



