. Animal Life and the World of Nature; A magazine of Natural History. By Frank Finn, , OF PASHA %^Mb JHX** TWELVE TAILS. IJhoto by W. P. Dando. WHYDAH BIKD. NONE of the small species of birds exhibited in the fine Western Aviary at the London Zoological Gardens excites so much interest as the Long-Tailed Widow, or Whydah Bird (Gliera procue), sometimes called the "Twelve-Tailed Whydah" by bird-dealers. This name, absurd as it sounds, is really rather descriptive, for whereas the other whydah-birds common in the bird trade have only a few feathers of • the tail elongated, i
. Animal Life and the World of Nature; A magazine of Natural History. By Frank Finn, , OF PASHA %^Mb JHX** TWELVE TAILS. IJhoto by W. P. Dando. WHYDAH BIKD. NONE of the small species of birds exhibited in the fine Western Aviary at the London Zoological Gardens excites so much interest as the Long-Tailed Widow, or Whydah Bird (Gliera procue), sometimes called the "Twelve-Tailed Whydah" by bird-dealers. This name, absurd as it sounds, is really rather descriptive, for whereas the other whydah-birds common in the bird trade have only a few feathers of • the tail elongated, in the long-tailed species all the twelve feathers of that appendage are of unusual length, sometimes as much as eighteen inches; and although they are not all equally long, each one would constitute a respectable tail by itself. The wearer of this fine appendage is a finch about the size of a skylark, and, as the picture shows, much resembles that bird when " out of ; The plumage is of the same streaky brown as the lark's, and the bird walks on the ground in the same manner, not hopping like most finches. The bill is, however, characteristically finch-like in form, and pale leaden-blue in colour. The hen of the species, which is not represented at the Gardens, always possesses the lark-like plumage and short tail, but her mate in the breeding-season doffs this sober garb for one of silky black, set off by rich orange-red epaulettes, and at the same time grows the wonderful tail of long, elegantly-crimped plumes shown in the other picture. Then- it is that he may be seen in all his glory; puffed out with pride, he erects his neck-feathers like a ruff, and half - expands his wings to show their glowing adornment. He is also constantly on the move, chasing other members of his species with a beautifully easy -and buoyant flight, very different from the bustling or bouncing progress of the more vulgar finches. Now and then, in an access of vaingloriousness, he sp
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1902
