174



Correspondence



A few days ago our pair somehow caught a Sparrow on the roof of the

aviary and pulled it through the wire-netting; they appeared to have eaten

most of it, for the total amount of wreckage we found was far less than the

bulk of a Sparrow.


The Keas are extremely amusing and are great personalities, making

by comparison most other Parrots appear quite characterless.



Armendy,


Sterrebeek (Brabant),

Belgium.



J. J. Ye ALL AND.



Dear Sir,— In reply to your inquiry in the Avicultural Magazine.

Your bird must be Lophospingus pusillus from Argentina. A lot arrived about

September last and Palmer, the dealer near the Zoo, had all or most. A first

arrival. He (or friends) called them “ Palmer Finches ” (sometimes even

“Huntley and Palmer Finches”). Brabourne and Chubb gives them the

English name of “ Black-crested Finch ”, but that is a name of no standing,

for no one who wants English names like bird-fanciers had ever seen them

before. However, it will do as well as anything else. As regards sex difference,

the B.M. Catalogue only says that the female is similar but slightly smaller.


I hope your “ Corbatitas ” will arrive safely. I shall be interested to hear

what they are in case they are a rare Sporophila (almost sure to be one of

that genus). They are certainly not “ Bib Finches ”. They come from

Madagascar.


I send this answer direct as you probably would like it before the Magazine

comes out, but you might let the Editress know that I identify them as

above.


I have seen two or three in friends’ collections. They appear reasonably

hardy, and do chiefly on the usual seed plus plenty of green grass.


Yours truly,


(Dr.) E. Hopkinson.



Dear Sir, —I am much obliged to you for the trouble you have taken

in replying to my inquiry in the Avicultural Magazine as to the identity

of the little “ Black-crested Finch ” I lately purchased and which, I am glad

to say, is doing very well: he has come into nice feather and is now very

tame, being quite content with a plain seed diet and a supply of flowering grass,

which, I agree with you, is a valuable, in fact the natural, food for many small

Finches. He also likes a mealworm now and then.


I think the term “ Black-crested ” should stand for this elegant little

bird, since the crest is his really very marked feature and, as far as I know,

there is no other small bird which, proportionately, has one so long and graceful.


I see he comes from the Argentine, home of many beautiful birds, some

of which (fortunately, perhaps) are, I know, rarely or never brought over;

but though I resided for some twenty years in the River Plate countries,

I never came across him.


My “ Corbatitas ” duly arrived, two very sorry little scrubs, but they are

picking up and moulting out nicely, April-May corresponding, of course.



