l82 BIRDS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 



M.rubro-tiigi'a. Chestnut - bellied 



Fiuch. 

 M. striata. Striated Fincli. 



M. acuticauda. Sharp-tailed Finch. 

 ]\L malabarica. Indian Silvcrbill. 

 3. Ploceus. P. Jiianyar. !Man3'ar Weaver 



Bird. 

 P. bengalensis. Bengal Weaver Bird 



AvADAVAT. — The male, in liis full summer plumage, is 

 more or less crimson in colour, darker on the throat, breast, 

 cheeks, and upper tail coverts. The tail is black, and tlie 

 flanks and sides covered with numerous small round white 

 spots. The bill is vermilion, and the eyes crimson. 



The female is olive brown above, with a reddish tinge on 

 the rump, and grey underneath. After breeding, the males 

 become like her, and so remain until the pairing season 

 returns. 



This little bird is found throughout India, but is of rarer 

 occurrence in the south. It frequents gardens in large 

 numbers, and more especially sugar-cane plantations and 

 long grass. It makes a big nest of grass in a bu.sh, or 

 among reeds, and lays from six to eight small white eggs of 

 a rounded form. 



The avadavat measures about 4 inches in hngth, of which 

 the tail takes up II;. It has a pretty little song, and feeds 

 on small seeds, such as millet, bearing confinement well. 



Green Waxbill, or Green Avadavat. — The upper plum- 

 age is light olive green ; the quills and tail dusky, tinged, as 

 to the former, with brown ; the under surface is pale j^ellow,. 

 with broad transverse dashes of dark grey on the flanks 

 and sides of the abdomen ; the bill is red, and the legs and 

 feet brown. In total length it measures about 4 inches, of 

 which the tail occupies 1^. 



