THE OSPREY. 



139 



FAMILY PLOCEID.5C. 



The typical Weavers of the genus Ploceus all 

 occur commonly in the Bazaar, except the true 

 P. megarhynchus (see Ibis. 1901, p. 2)), which is 

 unknown to the dealers. /'. atrigula [P mega- 

 rhynchus of the "Fauna of British India') is often 

 brought in as a young' bird, and evidently breed 

 near here. P. baya is only known as a bird 

 brought down from Lucknow, most of the speci- 

 mens being males. Man)- of that sex of P. 

 atrigula show a few yellow feathers on the 

 breast when in full plumage. 



Foudia madagascariensis used to be occasion- 

 ally imported in very small numbers, but I have 

 not seen any lately. 



Of the small Munias and Waxbills, Sporcegin- 

 thus amandava, Mania atricapilla, U.roloncha 

 punctulata, and U. malabarica are all very com- 

 mon, as might be expected. Stictospizaformosa, 

 Munia malacca, and Uroloncha striata are much 

 less often seen, but may be obtained now and 

 then. Intermediate forms between .1/. malacca 

 and M. atricapi/lla of ten occur, and are doubt- 

 less hybrids. Wild specimens of Urolonclia 

 acuticauda are rarely se;n. but the domesticated 

 Japan, se race (known to home amateurs as the 

 "Bengalee") is constantly present in the Bazaar, 

 in one or other of its three forms the brown- 

 and white 'grading completely into the wild 

 type), the fawn-aud-white. and the pure white, 

 the last being the rarest. It is somewhat curi- 

 ous that no form exists, apparently, interme- 

 diate between the fawn-and-white and brown- 

 and-white types, but a similar broad distinction 

 exists between the cinnamon and green forms 

 of the domestic Canary. 



Of the small exotic Ploceidae Mania uuija, .V. 

 castaneithorax, Tceniopygia castanotis, and Es- 

 trelda aslrild are the most common; but Poe- 

 phila mirabilis, /'. %ouldice, /'. acuticauda and /'. 

 cincta have been imported, the two former most 

 frequently and the latter only quite recently, 

 together with AZdemosyne modesla. 



Erythrura prasina, though occurring in our 

 empire, is of course only known here as an im- 

 ported bird, and does not usually do well. 



I have in my prefatory remarks already allu- 

 ded to the Java Sparrow as a commonly intro- 

 duced bird, and now need only mention that the 

 more or less pure white domestic form from 

 Japan is even more constantly an occupant of 

 the dealers' cages presumably because it sells 

 at a much higher price, and is therefore not so 

 readily disposed of. 



I-AMII.V KKINGII.I.ID.i:. 



The ubiquitous Canary is, of course, a very 

 common cage-bird in Calcutta, and will pro- 

 bably tend to displace many native species in 

 the affections of the people. Most of those sold 

 here come from China: they are small birds. 

 generally of the pale whitish-yellow tint known 

 to fanciers in England as "buff," green or pied 

 birds being- relatively few, and full bright yel- 

 low and cinnamon being rarely ever seen. 



I once saw a green bird (not a hybrid of any 

 sort) marked with yellow on the quills and tail, 

 like a Greenfinch. The note of these Chinese 



Canaries is very soft and pleasant, and they 

 generally resemble the German type of bird. 

 Maltese and a few English Canaries are also 

 imported, the latter fetching three and four 

 times the price of Chinese forms. 



The only Indian Finch commonly kept as a 

 songster is the "Tuti" (Carpodacus erythrinus); 

 this of course loses the red colour after moult- 

 ing in confinement, like other carmine-tinted 

 Finches. Several other species, however appear 

 in the Bazaar, generally to form part of mixed 

 collections, viz: — Emberiza luteola, Hypacan- 

 this spinoides, and, less commonly. Emberiza 

 melanocephala, li. aureola, Melophus melanic- 

 terus, Gymnorhis Jlavicollis, and Carduelis enni- 

 cepS. A large con sign men t of the last-named 

 came down during- the past winter, but the birds 

 did not thrive as a rule. A few individuals of 

 the Eastern form of Linnet (Acanthis fringilli- 

 rostris) have also been brought in, and I noted 

 that the males, when kept over" the moult, lost 

 the red. as the home Linnet does. I have also 

 seen a few specimens of Mctoponia pusilla. 



Of exotic Fringillid.e. ChtOris siliica is the 

 most common, except of course the Canary ; a 

 good many examples of Eophona melanura used 

 to be imported, but they were greatly subject to 

 disease of the feet and have not been very pop- 

 ular. The European Goldfinch (Carduelis ete- 

 gans) is generally to be found, but conns in 

 very small numbers; it does not feel the heat at 

 all. nor dors ii gasp, as many native specie s do. 

 Bullfinches [Pyrrhula europcea ami /'. major) 

 may sometimes be had. as may also the Bramb- 

 ling (Eringilla monli/ritigitla), the specimens of 

 this bird being imported. A species of Serinus 

 — I think .V. icterus is not uncommon. Ameri- 

 can Cardinals ( Cardinalis virginianus and Pa- 

 roaria cucullata) have been brought here and 

 have done well, but have not sold very readily. 



Family w..\ri>in.i-:. 



Larks are popular here as cage-birds, espe- 

 cially the "Chendool" [Galet ita cri'stata) and the 

 "Agheens" (Mirafra). Melanocorypha bitnacu- 



lata is also brought down to Calcutta in numbers 

 at the close of the cold season, while a few speci- 

 mens of M. mongolica may generally be seen, 

 as it is pretty regularly imported. Another 

 Chinese Lark is often to be noticed, Alauda 

 gulgula, I think at any rate it differs, like that 

 bird, from . /. arvensis in its similar size, shorter 

 wings and tail, and larger feet. These birds 

 are expensive, costing between ten and twenty 

 rupees, although not apparently different from 

 Indian specimens of .1. gulgula, which I have 

 never seen caged. But the custom of wrapping 

 up the cages has limited my knowledge of Larks 

 to a very great extent. 



FAMILY NKCrAKINIIIl.i:. 



Both Arachnechthra asiatica and A. zeylonica 

 may be occasionally seen at the dealers" estab- 

 lishment, but can hardly be expected to thrive. 

 Nevertheless, I have known the latter kept by 

 Europeans for many months, and I deposited 

 one of the former safely in the London Zoolog- 

 ical Gardens in 1897, although it was in poor 



