176 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



be possible, as in the cafe of Bullfinch and Redpoll 



hybrids. 



It is difficult to say whatlior the species of Amadina 

 ought to hi called Grass-finches or Mannikins; thty 

 certainly approach near to the Spice-fiiiches. 



The Mannikins. 



These birds are merely sombre-coloured Graiss- 

 finches with slightly heavier beaks, the culmen (or 

 ridge) of which is in a line continuous with the fore 



Quail Finch {Ortygonpiza polytona). 



Above brown, slightly mottled with darker brown ; 

 forehead blackish; wings and tail brown; coverts and 

 secondaries edged with gre.v ; outer primary and outer 

 tail-feiilher edged with white ; second tail-feather with 

 a white streak; lores blackish, a broad white orbital 

 ring consisting of the eyebrow and a streak joining it 

 below the eye ; ear-coverts and sides of neck greyish 

 brown ; cheeks blackish, united by a widening blackish 

 streak to the black throat; a large, shirply-defined. 



Quail Finch. 



head. They are the most stupid and generally 

 apathetic of all Finches. With the exception of the 

 Java Sparrow, which I con.sider more nearly related to 

 the typical Weavers than any other Mannikin, they 

 can hardly be expected to sing, ihe sounds they ntter 

 being weak and frequently almost inaudible ; indeed, 

 some aviculturists ha,ve declared themselves quite 

 unable to detect the slightest sound, although I must 

 confess that I always regarded this as a slight exagge- 

 ration of the fact. The song of tho Chestnut-breast is 

 the loudest of all these feeble singers, and even his 

 performnnce only consists of four feeble notes, each 

 repeated from four to six times. I will, however, give 

 the Mannikins credit for one thing: if they •■annot 

 sing, it is not for the want of trying: their efforts to 

 express themselves are prodigious and the effect 

 ludicrous. 



white chin-spot ; upper breast grey, barred with Idack 

 and white, [Kissing into light ches-tnut on the lower 

 breast and into buff on the abdomen; sides and flanks 

 greyish brown, barred with black and white; lower 

 tail-coverts buff, with longitudinal black shaft-streaks; 

 axillaries and under wing-coverts buff; flights below 

 dusky, with pale inner margins; beak red; feet pale 

 lirown ; irides bright hazel. Female v.ith the black on 

 head and throat replaced by greyish brown ; under- 

 sui'face of body paler; breast and sides barred with 

 <lull brown and white. Habitat, fix)m Abyssini.x to 

 Eastern Cape t>>lony on the east coast, and on the west 

 from Senegal to Angola. 



Stark observes ("Birds of South Africa," Vol. I., 

 p. 110) : "These pretty little birds are usually met with 

 in small flocks, but occasionally in single pairs, on 

 open grassy flats. Here they feed on the ground, under 



