Foreign F'mchcs in Captivity.
excepting- on tlie liinder part of tlie bodj-, the tail, tlie ^-idng-coverts, and secondaries.
Lengtli inclies.
Tlie young nearly resemble tlie lien, but are more tawny in colouring, with
tlie feathers above streaked, and those on the throat, breast and sides, spotted with
soot}' blackish.
I purchased a pair of Alario Pinches from ]\Ir. Abrahams about the 5iear 1889
and turned them into 1115' Waxbill aviar}' in the hope that I should be able to
breed them; the cock was in full song and there is little question that I should
have been successful, but unfortunatel}' one night he took fright, flew out excitedlj'
from his perch, and, striking his head against a branch, fell dead with a fractured
skull: the hen lived happily among niy tiny Finches for eighteen months, leading
a very uneventful existence, but one frosty night a sudden fall in the temperature
gave her a cold from which she never recovered.
At the annual Bird-show at the Ci-j'Stal Palace for i8go, Mr. J. Leslie
exhibited a mule, which he had bred between this bird and a Canar}'; but as
might ha^'e been expected, the judge was too conservative to consider a cross
between an African bird and a Canary worth even a commendation: yet, to all
lovers of foreign birds, that must have been by far the most interesting mule in
the show; something c[uite distinct from the everlasting Goldfinch and Linnet mules
dear to the Canary fancier. In matters relating to birds, I must confess myself to
be an Athenian.
Sharpe and Layard tell us:—"This is the Berg-Canarie (Mountain Canary)
of the colonists. We have received it from the Knysiia, Malmesbuiy, Swellendam,
and Colesberg, and ]Mr, Rickard has procured it at Port Elizabeth ; he writes:—
" I fancy this is the species much prized by the lads in Port Elizabeth, who called
it the "Namaqiia;" it only appears at long intervals, but in considerable numbers
when it does occur; the}' sing well and become very tame."
" I t is not uncommon in the neighbourhood of Nel's Poort (Beaufort), ranging
in small flocks among the thorn-bushes and feeding 021 grass seeds. It often
intermingles with flocks of the common A. astrildy
" I t s song is very sweet and sustained, for which reason it is kept in confinement,
which it endures very well. It seems to vary somewhat in the distribution of its
colours. Its eggs sent by Mr. Jackson and others, rather resemble those of the
Cape Canary, being white, tinged with green, more or less spotted, blotched, and
streaked, chiefly at the obtuse end, with various shades of brown. Axis 85,
diameter 6. Mr. Anderson says:—'I only met with this pretty Finch in Great
Namaqua-Land, where it occurred in small flocks at the water.' "
The Alario Finch. 43
Dr. Russ tells us that this Finch, "when acclimatized, is not delicate; is
peaceable and harmless; is quarrelled with and pursued by its relatives at breedingtime.
It has not itself been bred. Dr. Franken and Plarres, the Architect, bred
mules with Canary hens. Song continuing the whole year, soft, flute-like, but
low pitched." In his larger book he only adds Dr. Franken's experiences in
crossing the Alario Finch -with the Canary, which appear to have been far less
satisfactory than those of Mr. Leslie, inasmuch as he seems only to have obtained
one hen from six sittings of eggs.
The illustrations are from skins of specimens formerly living in the author's
collection.
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