45 



" This bird," Bernstein tells us, "is, like Jlioii a ory:ivo7'a, a well-known 

 frequenter of the inhabited regions of Java. The two sexes cannot be dis- 

 tinguished from one another in anything save that the old males have a 

 darker and more pronounced colouring. When Bonaparte described the 

 plumage of the female as differing from that of the male, this statement 

 was founded on a mistake, and the description of the female given has re- 

 ference to the plumage of the young. Durmg the months when the rice 

 fields are flooded and under cultivation, Munia ferruginea, like the rice-bird, 

 inhabits small woods, tbickets and hedges along the roads, or between fields 

 and meadows : sometimes, also, it lives in little wildernesses formed by 

 Alang Alang and low bushes, which latter it seems to prefer, as I never yet 

 found it missing in such jalaces. As soon, however, as the rice begins to 

 ripen, it betakes itself to the fields, and by its numbers not unfrequently 

 works considerable damage. Smaller and quicker in its movements than 

 the rice-bu'd, it is quite as easily kept in captivity on rice and other species 

 of grain ; it is also sociable towards other small birds and companions, with 

 whom it is accustomed to sleep close together on the same perch. Its call- 

 note which one frequently hears is a clear wit-wit-icit. I have never 

 heard its song, but on the other hand have often found its nest. The 

 latter is always placed in a low position, a few inches, at most half a foot, 

 above the ground ; sometimes in a small shrub standing between the 

 Alang-Alangs ; sometimes it is bviilt among this grass and supported by its 

 blades, but never immediately upon the ground. It is round in shape, with 

 the entrance at the side, and is of considerable extent in proportion to the 

 size of the bird, as its diameter usually amounts to 6 inches. 



" All the nests which I have found belonging to this species were com- 

 posed exclusively of blades and fibres of various grasses, more especially of 

 wool-bearing ones, which materials were only loosely woven together on 

 the outside, and were also mixed with larger leaves and those of the Alang 

 which gave to the whole structure a somewhat dishevelled appearance ; 

 while inside they were carefully and more finely entwined, and well 

 mixed with soft grass wool. The pure white, rather long-shaped eggs, of 

 which usually six or seven, and but rarely four, are found in one nest, 

 measure lG-17 mm. in diameter, in a few cases only 15 mm., while their 

 greatest transverse diameter amounts to 11-12 mm." 



