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156 Fojrio'» Finches in Ca/'tivity.
successful liatcliiug lias uot beeu accomplished, aud since then this species has
been extremeh^ seldom imported."
A very good pair, however, was exhibited at the Cr^'stal Palace Show for
1890 and either the same, or other specimens, have been shown there ever^- j^ear
since that date.
In the first edition of Cassell's Cage Birds, Wiener says :—" The onl}- record
of a li\-e Parrot Finch in an_\- European Zoological Garden is, that in 1873 oi^i^
specimen was seen in the garden of the Paris Acclimatization Society. My Parrot
Finches were ahva3^s perfectly amiable to^vards other birds, and nested within a
few feet of the Double-banded Finches, \rithont either interfering with the domestic
arrangements of the other. At first the}- were rather shj-, and left their nest
whenever an3'one came near, biat latterly- the}' have become used to visitors. M}'
success in breeding this rare and valuable Finch is probably due to the birds
being- placed in an aviary sufficientl}- large to leave them eomparativel}- undisturbed.
As food, canary, French millet, and millet in the ear proved sufficient, with the
usual addition of animal food in the breeding season."
What was the size of Wiener's aviary ? He omits to inform us whether its
length was three, six, uine, twelve or fifteen feet; and so with the other measurements.
How then can one get any idea as to what he means b)- "sufficientl}'
l a r g e " ? If Dr. Russ is correct in calling it a flight-cage (he says distinctly "in
einen Flugkasig") it could only be called an aviary by courtesy, like those pretty
little things for the table, or a corner of a study ; but Wiener tells ns that " a
few feet" intervened between the nest of his Parrot Finches aud that of his
Bicheno's Finches ; so that the cage must at anyrate have been larger than a to}-
a\-iar}'. The }fOung were reared on egg, ants' cocoons, maw seed and sponge
cake.
In the " Gefiederte AVelt" for April 21st, 1887, Lieut. Hauth says :—" Respecting
ni}- Red-headed Parrot Finches (Spermesies psittacea, GMEL), I can inform you
that the voung of the first nest ha\'e thri^-en excellently; the}- are to-day (14th
April) fourteen days old. Also the young in the second nest came out four days ago,
and lastlv I have a laying of four eggs of the same species deposited in a third
nest: as }'0u are aware, I possess several adult pairs."
In June of the same year he contributes a long article to the " Gefiederte
'\\'elt " in which he gives a full, indeed almost unnecessarily prolix account of
his experiences «'ith this species. At first I commenced to translate this account
verbatim, bnt after wading through the first half, concluded that the facts conld
be stated more concisely. He mentions the fact that, whereas the "Leek-green
The Parrot Finch. 167
Amandine" (Pin-tailed Nonpareil) is always extremely delicate when freshly
imported, both the Three-coloured and typical Parrot Finches came into his hands
in an extremely good state of health. His specimens were obtained with difficulty,
o^ving to their high price, and after he had acquired se\'-eu specimens, to his
anno}'ance he discovered that six of them were males; he snbsequentl}' secured
a second female througli the kindness of a Chemist, Mr. Nagel by name.
Lieut. Hauth believes that, if one has both sexes of this species before him,
they may be distinguished without diificulty. The male is somewhat larger and
more brightly coloured ; the red of the head and breast more extended and that
of the lower back and croup more brilliant. A specially fine male also has the
red feathers of the lower back drooping, as in a fowl, on each side. In a second
pair however he confesses that at first he was unable to distinguish the sexes by
their feathering until after their moult, when, in his judgment, the hen appeared
to be a little duller in all its colours and less glossy.
He then goes on to repeat that he considers the fact of the less pronounced
red of the lower back and the non-dependent feathers in the hen a good distinctive
character; after which he gives a detailed description of the plumage.
The disposition of the species is said to be " very sprightly, vivacious, entirely
harmless and peaceable," both among themselves and towards other foreigners.
" I t is possible that there may be individual exceptions to this rule. The pair
behave somewhat indifferently towards each other, one never sees them preening
one another's feathers and very rarely sitting cuddled up together.
"Even in the Bird-room, where a pair and an uumated male are flying about
with other Amandines, they are placable and go quietly abont their business, only
occasionally the two males fly against one another, if the single one dares to make
affectionate advances to the female of the other; but in a short time the superficial
dispute is again set at rest. Nevertheless I have now preferred to take away the
single male ; as in the end more serious disputes might occur and pei'haps endanger
the successful breeding of the pair; I believe that several true pairs would
behave very well together with the exception of the disagreements which occur
more or less between birds which are nesting.
They remain a good deal in the lower bushes and at night seek repose sitting
apart, high up towards the ceiling, in the immediate vicinity of the other pair of
the same species which is in the cage; in the daytime moreover they pay frequent
\'isits to the latter and exchange friendly communications.
With their near relatives the three-coloured Parrot Amandines, also flying at
large, they live on the best of terms. How closeh" related these three differently
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