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Foreign Fiiid/cs hi Caf^tivily.
veinaius red the dealers' cages males and females ah.avs beeome darker and
•sonjetnnes ahnost enUrel.v dark bro.-n np to the red eronp/ Flying freely lit the
Wd-room or n. a cage placed in a bright light, the3- reco^-er their original colonru
g I the claw-nads are not cut from time to tin,e, they beeon.e monstronsly
long , M-hat IS more, the beaks sometimes become distorted "
"Male and female ntter a charming, yariable trill, but the latter only as a
rule, M-hen there is no male present."
ele ated head and expanded tail. in a Hartz cage, almost inyariablv
free :n a bush, on the top of a wire-cage or in sintilar contrivances. In one a e
cott n tlneads, &e., y.th one or two exits, and lined with cotton and hair; in
I w T ' "P ^--P the same building materials,
^vith b oad only half-coyered ettp. almost inyariably four eggs. Durino'
meuba ton the male driyes eyery other bird front the yicinity of the
. f e e . clear grej-.yel ow, wax^- skin-glands (expansions of edges of mandibles^ ^.hit;
Uung phnnagc ttmform dull brownish, distinguishable front the regularly placed
duty yellow dots on the points of the ..ng-eoyerts and the yellow-red c'oup •
beak slunmg bkck, Tke cl,an.ge of colour commences in the thirf week, since the
beak ancl whole under surface of the. body get brighter and the upper surface
darker. After eight weeks or thereabouts the beak is red and then the Tiger-fineh
(German triyial name) is fit to go to nest. Altogether the yariatious of edour are
so ehaugeful, that the loyelj. plumage described is first fully perfected after t^yo
years, during which time the feathering is perpetualb^ changing in all parts
hrough .yellow, brown, white into different hues, until the loyely red mantle anci
the white spots show up sharply."
^ ''Neyertheless the Tiger-findi may be recognised at all times and is purchased
in all these plumages. Nesting-season :^Antumn (September) to January; three
to four broods By remoying the means of nesting, also not difficult to "breed in
UWhl ii ikltT ttih'e' tTi"g erT-finTch' re"adi ifly" a- nd without difficulty nested in my bird-roomC oloogthneer.
breeders complain that under fayourable conditions, it neyer got%o far as a hatch
or If this came to pass the young would die, and meanwhile it would be quarrelsome'
I t IS therefore not always bred in proportion to the attempts, and rarely with
satisfactory results." ^
There are yarious degrees of excellence among singers of this species • all
sing on a descending scale; but a bad performer will only give an outline of the
The Amaduvade Waxbill. 121
true song, represented by four or five notes; on the other hand a really good
vocalist, commences with five or six single shrill notes, all alike, each separated
by a pause from the other, as though he were tuning his instrument, or trying to
find the ke3'-note ; then suddenl}- he sings somewhat as follows:—''Tetti, tetli, letti,
tettiiera, teeta, fur, tiir" commencing high and rapidly running down like a scale
played on the flute with variations, the two last notes grave and low. The effect
is decidedly pleasing ; but the same individual never varies his song and, so far
as I have been able to discover, a bad singer never improves.
I do not believe that the hen ever sings ; judging from my own experience
alone, I should be inclined to say that it certainly does not; but the cock bird
sings at all seasons and when in female dress, which would lead anyone who was
not certain of the sex of the performer, to imagine that a hen sang as well as a
cock.
As a matter of fact you could not whistle the Amaduvade's song with the lips
as written above, though you might succeed better by whistling through the teeth;
but the flute-like sounds uttered suggest the above syllables. I always try to get
a clue to the suggested words by imitating the song immediately after hearing it.
Though very hardy and long-lived in a large cage, or in an unheated aviary,
I find the Amaduvades drop off one by one in my bird-room more c|uickly than
many other Waxbills: thus, in 1892 I must have added quite three dozen examples
to the half-dozen or so which were previously living in the aviary devoted to small
Finches ; yet by February, 1894, there were certainly not more than half-a-dozen
examples remaining; whereas, a dozen turned loose in 1892 in my coldest aviary
were all living at the above mentioned later date, in spite of severe frosts and the
trying nature of this most changeable climate. Indeed, provided that the north
and east winds are shut out, cold appears to invigorate these Waxbills, and I do
not doubt that if turned loose 111 the extreme south of Ivngland they would thrive,
provided that thej- could always obtain food.
Illustrations from living specimens and skins in the author's collection.
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