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T H E GREY SINGING-FINCH,
Sfr/tiiis lincopygiits, SUNDEV.
^ T T I T H O U T question the best performer among all Singing Finches; its
' » melodj' is lively, ^'igorons, full of sweet notes and deficient in all harsh
or unpleasant ones. Compared with Scriniis lencopygius, the ordinary tj'pe of
domesticated Canary is little better than a discordant screamer: there is, in truth,
as wide a difference between the musical productions of these two Serins, as
exists between the playing of a flute by a skilled professional and the tooting on
a tin-whistle bj' a street-urchin.
The Grey Singing Finch inhabits North-eastern and Equatorial Africa,
The general colouring of the upper surface is smoky grey, with dull brown
centres to the feathers; the rump white, separated from the grey of the back by
a blackish band; upper tail coverts and tail feathers brown, with greyer edgeslesser
\riug-coverts ash-grey, remainder of wing brown, the feathers with paler
edges; crown of head and front of neck pale smoky grey, distinctly streaked with
brown; back of neck without streaks; throat ashy whitish, browner on the front
of the chest, where there are a few dusky spots; breast and abdomen white, the
flanks slightly greyish and streaked with brown; under wing-coverts and axillaries
greyish brown, with whitish edges; flight feathers below smoky, their inner edges
yellowish grey. Length inches. Beak and legs flesh brownish, iris brown.
The sexes appear to be absolutely alike; but Mr, Abrahams unhesitatingly
selected a pair for me, and his selection proved to be correct: he informed me at
the time, that the only reliable difference was in the white centre to the throat of
the male, showing as a pure white spot when the bird was singing, but not easy
to distinguish at other times.
This pair of Grey Singing Finches nested in a German canary-cage, building
a very neat little structure of scraps of moss, grass roots, and cow-hair, on the
floor of the cage; unhappily the hen died with her second egg, I subsequently
picked up two additional specimens for a few shillings, both of which eventually