I ran this description by Mary Gustafson as she is very familiar with caged birds -- her response was: "Sounds like a waxbill of some kind, probably leucistic; maybe a molting strawberry finch/avadavat or a red-rumped waxbill." Hope this helps. Cheers, Kathy Klimkiewicz Laurel MD P.S. While I am here -- the Chimney Swift roost is building again across from my place (825 Fourth St. Laurel, MD). ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: [MDOsprey] interesting bird Author: mdosprey@ARI.Net at NBS-Internet-Gateway Date: 8/30/99 2:49 PM This morning I had a beautiful little bird in my yard that must be some kind of escaped caged bird. I saw it 3 times at less than 20 feet; my husband also saw it the third time and was able to verify the markings I called off. The face up to the dark eye was a bright coral red as was the conical bill. The rump or maybe tail base was the same color. The back was brownish with a faint wash of coral. There were no wingbars on the gray wings. The crown was gray like the cap of a mature catbird. The tail was gray. The underparts were white with a slight wash of coral red on the upper flanks. The bird was in a weedy woody and herbaceous area and was never seen above 4 feet. While we were waiting for the bird to reappear a Chat came into the same area. The bird was smaller than the Chat. BTW, the only other yard records I have for Chat were in August and Sept 1991. Cloudy, windy up here on the hill, 7:35, 7:50, and 8:05 A.M. Can anyone identify this lovely bird for me? Charlotte Friend