148 R. S. de Q. Quincey—Hardiness of a Humming-bird


streams. The cock has been inspecting this renovated home with

extreme interest and delight, and I hope the hen will presently prove

equally thrilled, for I have not put them together again yet, as I find

them better separated during the winter.


A pair of Amethyst Starlings (Pholidauges leucogaster) are not very

enterprising birds ; up to now they have only got as far as carrying

leaves about. They seem disinclined to become tame, but the cock

looks very beautiful each summer in the sunlight, and people always

ask what that lovely purple bird is.


A pair of Striated Tanagers (Tanagra honarensis ) (the hens seem

to be very scarce even in their own country), a curious little “ Spine

Tail 55 (? Synallakis cinnemomea ) that has a very harsh rasping call

when meal-worms are about, a delightful Banana Quit, a cock Purple

Sugar Bird, a very perfect Scarlet-chested Sunbird, and some cock

Giant Whydahs, whose effective tails and beautiful flight are always

good value for aviary decoration, would seem to complete the list of

what one might call established birds.


My latest importations are some “ Little Widow Tyrants ” (the

“ Viudita Blanca ”) (Tcenioptera irupero). Those who have seen a

Rothschild’s Grackle can realize a Norwich Canary-sized and -shaped

Flycatcher of that colouring, and will understand this Argentine and

Uruguayan bird’s beauty. His shining whiteness in his native country

arrested my attention and set me longing to get this bird over here.

He is by nature a solitary, wild bird, and is, according to Hudson, the

only Tyrant that nests in holes. Mine must have been hand-reared,

and are tame, but, caught adult, these small Tyrants would not,

I imagine, be easy to reconcile to captivity. They are moulting out

into fresh white splendour, and I look forward to the time when I can

see them in the full beauty of their flight, when the contrast of their

black wing and tail tips will be seen to full advantage.



