A. Morrison—The Genus Sporophila



69



members like myself who are, perhaps, a little frightened to attempt to

keep tropical soft-billed birds ; they will be well repaid for the little extra

trouble by the wonderful confiding tameness of both, and if kept as

I have described in an outside aviary with slightly heated shelter, say

up to 45° on cold nights, they seem to do well. They get plenty of

•exercise and I believe in not too many mealworms. I believe a large

number to be harmful, especially in the summer, when in a planted

aviary small flies, etc., are always flying in and out from the surrounding

garden.


The following are the proportions by measure for No. 1 “ dry

insectivorous mixture ”, which I find so handy : -

4 parts fine biscuit meal

2 parts chick rearing meal

1 part dried flies

1 part ants’ eggs

1 part medium meat meal.



THE GENUS SPOROPHILA


By A. Morrison

(Continued from page 51)


Fire-Red Finch ($. minuta)


Male. —Above brown with a slight wash of ashy olive ; lower back

and rump chestnut ; lores dusky brown ; ear coverts light olive brown ;

cheeks and entire under surface chestnut; a small spot of white at

the base of the cheeks ; thighs brown washed with chestnut ; under

tail coverts chestnut ; lesser wing-coverts brown ; median and greater

coverts blackish with broad greyish olive edges to the latter ; other wing

feathers blackish brown edged with ashy, whitish on the margins of the

primaries, the inner ones of which have a half-concealed spot of white

at the base ; under wing-coverts whitish ; upper tail coverts ashy

•olive washed with chestnut on the edges ; irides brown ; bill blackish

(or sometimes brownish white), paler below ; feet dark horn.


The brownish bill phase is possibly in seasonal plumage when the



