6 Foreign Finches in Captivity.
Peni ambuc o the mos t be aut i ful T a n a g e r s can be bought at ad. per be ad; in E n g l a n d
tliey are worth £2 each, and but rarely offered for s a l e . "
Now, in the above-ment ioned market -places , one would be able to obtain Calliste
trieo/or and C.festiva a s well as C./astuosa. T h e former, which inhabi t s Ri o J ane i ro,
and Bahi a , differs f rom the S u p e r b T a n a g e r in ha v ing the lower ha l f of the or ange
patch on the ba ck replaced by g r e en; whilst C. /estiva from Pernambuco, Ri o J ane i ro
Bahia, and S a n Paulo, ha s the whole of the pos ter ior ha l f of the. ba ck br ight
green. The s e , of course, are not the onty differences.
T h e ne s t and e g g s of the S u p e r b T a n a g e r and its near relatives seem not to
have been descr ibed; but they are probably not unl ike those of other species of
Calliste, the nes t s of which are cup- shaped, with plenty of mos s outside, some t ime s
mi x e d with s lender twi g s ; the ins ide lined with fine roots and hor se-hai r ; the e g g s
with a gre eni sh ground- t int densely speckled and spot ted with some shade of brown
and lavender . An i l lus t rat ion of the e g g of one of the species of CaJliste s e emed
to me to resemble that of a Wa rbl e r rather than of a Finch.
T h e bes t sized c a g e in which to ke ep the S u p e r b and allied Ta n a g e r s , in order
to show off their marA-ellous be auty to perfection, should me a sur e at leas t two feet
in width, eighteen to twenty inches in height , and about the s ame in depth f rom
f ront to back. I f an a t t empt should ever be made to breed these birds, the c a g e
would have to be c^uite a foot l a r g e r in all dimens ions , and a furze-bush, or some
s imi lar dense shrubby plant should be fixed a g a ins t the ba ck wall. I t is, however,
doubt ful whether, wi thout a hi gh temperature, suc ces s in br e eding could be obtained.
In publ ic Zoological Ga rdens I have seen the S u p e r b T a n a g e r kept in c age s so
sma l l that the poor bird not only had but little room for exercise, but was qui te
unable to throw any life or action into its mo v ement s : a stuffed spec imen would
have been a lmos t equal ly interes t ing.
Dr R u s s does not encour age ama t eur s to ke ep the S u p e r b T a n a g e r and its
allies. H e s a y s :—"Wi t h this species a little related g r oup of T a n a g e r s commences ,
which are r ema rkabl e for their ext reme ly splendid and mani fold colour ing, and
therefore enjoy cons iderable popul a r i ty, whi l s t several are not cons idered very rare
in the trade. Bu t unhappi ly there is a very da rk s ide to the picture. T h e y eat
f rui t by preference, f requent ly despi se even an addi t ion of ant s ' cocoons, me a lworms ,
e g g , bread and boiled rice; ma k e an incredible me s s , are difficult to ke ep clean; are
delicate above everything, become ill through the mos t ins igni f icant unf avour abl e
influences, and die ear ly as a rule, even unde r the mos t solicitous c a r e . " A little
fur the r on he a d d s ;—" V e r y beaut i ful , but too t ranqui l , almos t idiotic, only eat s
inc e s s ant ly. "
The Superb Tanager. 7
In hi s " Fremdländischer Sttibenvogel" Dr . R u s s gives a lmos t exa c t ly the s ame
account, to which he adds but little informa t ion; he s a y s :—" I n its di spos i t ion,
the ext remely va r i e g a t ed little bi rd unfor tuna t e ly does not respond to thi s be aut i ful
external na tura l dowry; it shows i t sel f to be dul l and l i s t les s , a lmos t dull-witted,
and its mo s t prominent character i s t ic is that of a feeder. F r om ear ly mo r n i n g
until evening it sit s at the t r ough and gobbl e s up a s t ounding quant i t ies of f rui t ,
sweet rice, and all kinds of other sof t food, and ma k e s a cor r e sponding amo unt
of dirt, so that the ke epe r of such a bi rd ha s cont inuous ly to eng a g e in a g i g ant i c
s t r u g g l e with the preparat ion of food on the one hand and the unc leanl ines s on
the other hand. Pe rhaps , however, the c aus e of such unlovable t rai t s ha s i t s foundation
only in bad mana g ement , which these bi rds have to put up wi th f r om the
moment of their c apture and dur ing their ent ire t r anspor t a t ion; and in such c a s e
they would then, as soon as they had completely recovered, immedi a t e ly be come
mor e moderate and cleanly. A r e g a rd for their magni f i cent colour ing would be a
sufficient recompense for a t t empt ing expe r iment s on this account wi th them.
Unhappi ly on the one s ide their noted f rai l ty and on the other s ide thei r e x t r eme ly
hi gh price are ter r ibly opposed to thi s . "
I mus t s ay that, j u d g i n g f rom what I have seen of the manne r in which the s e
lovely bi rds are kept , in mi s e r abl e l i t t le c a g e s ha rdly l a r g e enough for a Cana ry ,
the wonder is, not that they find no bet ter amus ement than g o r g i n g thems e lve s
and thereby ruining thei r heal th, but that they ma n a g e to exi s t at all. Mu c h
sent iment ha s been was ted over the appa r ent cruel ty of conf ining a S k y l a r k in
a sma l l c a g e (the fact that mo s t of its t ime is spent upon the ear th be ing overlooked)
; yet these Ta n a g e r s , whose de l i ght it is to spor t amo n g the br anche s of
lof ty fores t trees, above which, at certain sea sons , they fly in flocks, are confined
in na s ty little squa r e cages , the draw- t ray of which is l i t tered wi th banana s , o r ang e s
in quar ter s , and the like, l e a v ing the poor bi rd nothing mor e than a monotonous
t r i angul a r hop f rom mo rning to night , as an apo l o g y for exerci se.
I t is t rue that but few bird-lovers could afford to devote a l a r g e avi a ry ent i rely
to Ta n a g e r s , but sur e ly for such va luabl e and splendid bi rds it would be wor th
while to provide a c a g e sufficient ly spa c ious to enable them to s t retch thei r wi n g s :
four or five cubic feet do not occupy a ve ry l a r g e area, even in a compa r a t ive ly
smal l bird-room, but they would g ive a pai r of T a n a g e r s s ome thing bet ter to
think about than how to ruin thei r diges t ions , and be a g r e a t relief to the monoton} '
of an exi s tence which one ma y well believe they a r e not loth to be relea sed f r om
by death.