44 



D u tch . Zwa rtkeel- Nonnetje. 



English. TJie Black-breasted Maja. Javan Maja- Finch. Black-throated 

 Nun. Black-throated tchite-headed Nun. Javan Nun. Ferruginous 

 Grosbeak. Ferruginous Munia. Ferruginous Finch. 



French. Le Majan a poitrine noire. Gros-bec Majano'ide. La Nonnette 



a tete blanche et a poitrine noire. 

 German. Die schwarzbriistige Maja oder Nontie. Die schwarzbrlistige 



Nonnen-A madine. 

 Sundanese. Bondol. 



Habitat. Java. Flores ( 11 a//ace). 



Male. Crown, sides of head, and hind neck white ; back, wings, and sides of body dark 

 chestnut brown ; rump and upper tail-coverts glistening dark maroon ; centre tail- 

 feathers and outer edges of the rest glistening dark ferruginous ; chin, throat, breast, 

 mesial stripe, flank, thighs, and under tail-coverts black ; axillaries, under wing-coverts 

 and inner edges of wing-feathers yellowish-buff; iris reddish-brown ; bill plumbeous, whi- 

 tish at the tip ; legs slaty-black : length 4-1, wing 2-05, tail TS, tarsus 06, culmen 045. 



Female. Similar, with a slight tinge of yellowish-buflf on the crown and nape. 



Young. Above dark rufous brown ; primaries, secondaries, and tail-feathers brown, edged 

 with pale rufous brown ; chin and throat bufiish-white ; under parts fulvous, palest on 

 abdomen and under tail-coverts ; iris dark hazel brown ; bill and legs dull slaty-brown '■ 

 length S'SS, wing 2'0, tail 1'5, tarsus 0-6, culmen 0'45. 



The little Manias which form the present group, although possessing 

 white or pale-coloured heads, still retain the black mesial stripe, which is 

 more or less developed on the abdomen, but in the last one (Munia pallida) 

 it is obsolete. These pale-headed birds hold, in my opinion, the closest 

 relationship to the former five black-and-brown-headed species. 



The Ferruginous ]\lunia was first described and figured by Sparrman in 

 his ' Museum Carlsonianum,' published between the years 1786-89. The 

 figure in plate 90 represents an adult bird, which he says is a male, but 

 whether this is so is difficult to decide, the two sexes being alike. In plate 

 91 is depicted what Sparrman calls the female ; this is a representation of a 

 young bird (and not the female) m its fulvous brown plumage, a charac- 

 teristic of the whole of the young birds of this peculiar form of Weaver. 



The distribution of tliis veiy pretty species is apparently restricted to 

 the islands of Java and Flores. 



