178 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



the case, since there is an attempt at reversion to two 

 types of parent, and it is incoiireivable that U. acuti- 

 Taiula could produce a type so closely resejiibling the 

 nuich darker U striata; but quite concejvable, if the 

 latter were originally a invre variation from I', striata 

 and the fawn and white variations were produced by 

 iiitro<lucing a nearly related species, that the hybrid, 

 paired with the original parent stock, should show the 

 influence of both that and the later introduction in its 

 offspring. 



Be.\g.u.ee (Uruloncha f/omestica). 

 ^ The technical name has been proposed by Captain 

 Stanley Flower for this domesticated Guinea-pig among 

 Finches. It is well-known in all its forms, darlc sepia- 

 brown and white ; fawn or tawny-buffish and white, 

 and pure white. I have bred all three forms several 

 times, but not in great numbers. I gave up Mr. 

 Abrahams' view that the Indian Silverbill was con- 

 cerned in the parentage of this litUe bird on the ground 

 that it never showed any tendency to revert to that 

 species, wliereas it certainly does to both U. striata and 

 U. aruticauda. 



The song of the Bengalee is a little louder than that 

 of the Striated Finch, and perhaps somewhat more 

 liquid ; but it has no great merit. 



Strictly-speaking the Bengalee is a genuine fancier's 

 bird, and theiefore should have no place in the present 

 work, but both this and the Barbary Turtle-dove have 

 always been included in avicultural books, and there- 

 fore it would be pedantic to Oinit them. 



Common Spice-Finch [Munia punctulata). 



The prevailing colour of this ilannikin is chocolate- 

 brown, the under parts becoming paler from before 

 backwards, being quite white on the belly, but all the 

 feathers edged with brown, which produces a regularly 

 scaled appearance ; rump similar to the belly in colour- 

 ing: the beak and feet are grey, upper mandible black. 

 Female differing in form of beak as m U roloncka. 

 Hab.. the greater part of India and Ceylon. 



Being an exceedingly abundant species, the wild life 

 of the Spice Finch has been well obseired. It breeds 

 from February to October, building usually in small 

 trees or bushes, acacias by preference, or in trellises 

 of houses. As a rule, the ne.sts are at a height of 

 five to seven feet frcm the ground, but exceptionally at 

 a much greater elevation. The typical form of the 

 structure is an oblate spheroid eight to ten inches in 

 diameter and six to seven inclies high. It is formed of 

 fresh broad-leaved grasses, rice and barley straw, and 

 sometimes leaves, with a circular opening in front. 

 The lining consists of fine dry grass stems, the beards 

 of wheat and barley, or fine rootlets. Five to ten 

 white eggs .ire laid, but seven appears to represent a 

 normal clutch. 



This bii-d seems to be by no means easy to breed, 

 although Dr. Russ has succeeded where others have 

 failed. My birds have from time to time laid eggs and 

 have sat for a week or so ; but, either from weariness 

 or thrv)ugh being disturbed by other Maiuiikins, liave 

 never persevered long enough to hiitch out any young- 

 sters. The tights of this and all the Mannikins are 

 a miserable make-believe; they simply .'tand up as 

 high as possible and rap their beaks together, without 

 hurting one another in the least. The only time when 

 they are dangerous is when they have a nest in a 

 German canary cage and some little fellow attempts 

 tc intrude ; then they .<cuttle to the opening, lean over, 

 and if the inquisitive stranger does not look out they 

 wHll bring their great beaks down like a pick on the 

 top of his ."ikull, and drop him dead in a single blow. 

 This is, however, a tragedy of rare occurrence, though 



I once lost a nice little African Waxbill thus through 

 a blow frcm the beak of a Black-headed Mannikm. 



The song of the Spice Finch is a feeble vibrant 

 humming, followed by three creaky utterances, which 

 1 uiice described as resembling an arrested sneeze, and 

 It invariably terminates with a very thin prolonged 

 whistle. To persons at all dull of hearing the song is 

 quite inaudible. 



Bar-breasted Finch [Munia suhundulata). 



Differs from M. punctulata " in the more olive-yellow 

 shade of the rump, upper tail-coverts and tail, and 

 the generally more a.shy black of the flank barring, 

 which, moieover, is not so strongly pronounced as in 

 M. punctulata. On the rump the feathers h.ave not 

 the second subterminal dusky bar which is seen in the 

 latter species." Hab., from Cachar to ilanipur, 

 Burmah, and Tenasserim, eastward to Cochin China." 

 (Sharpe.) 



Dr. Sli.irpe regards this as a sub-species tending to 

 link M. punctulata to the -Malayan M. nisoria. There 

 is not the slightest doubt in my mind that the late 

 Mr. J. Abrahams failed to distinguish it from M. 

 nisoria, for he recognised some of my specimens re- 

 ceived from India as the Bar-breasted Finch. I suspect 

 that all those which he jMesented to the London Zoo- 

 logical Gardens were actually examples of M. subundu- 

 lata. Mr. Abrahams called the Indian examples M. 

 nisoria. 



Topela Finch {Munia topcla). 



Differs from M . punctulata in having " a sliade of 

 ashy-olive over the rump, and with the upper tail- 

 coverts and tail shaded with pale straw-yellow ; the 

 chestnut throat more restricted than in the Indian 

 species, and the barring on the flanks more dusky 

 blackish." Hab., Southern China, Formosa, and 

 Hainan." (Sharjie.) 



Mr. Abrahams gave me a pair of this form of Spice- 

 bird in July, 1894. I have no doubt that, like the 

 other imported forms, it is a mere local race of M. 

 punctulata. In voice, behaviour, and nesting habits they 

 all agree, and the confusion that has arisen respecting 

 them is evidence of the difficulty of distinguishing them. 



Malayan Spice-Bird {Munia nisoria). 



Differs from M. piunctulata in having "a grey shade 

 over the rump and tail, with scarcely any olive-yellow ; 

 the rump feathers are like those of M. topela, plain, 

 with a pale edging, but with indications of two dusky 

 bars." " I am not .sure that thei« light edges are not 

 signs of age." "Hab., Malayan Peninsula, Jaya." 

 (Sharpe.) 



It is probable that some of those recorded in the Zoo- 

 logical Society's list are genuine M. nisoria (but not 

 Bar-breasted Finches), whereas those which Mr. Abra- 

 hams identified in my aviaries with " .1/. nisoria — the 

 Bar-breasted Finch," were M. suhundulata. the actual 

 Bar-breasted Finch. BIyth and Jordan made confusion 

 worse confounded by calling the common Spice-bird of 

 India .1/. undulala,' and the Malayan bird M. punctu- 

 laria. 



Pectoral Finch {Munia pectorali.^). 



Above pearl grey : upper tail-coverts blackish ; wing- 

 coveits and inner secon.laries pale grevi.'h bromi. slotted 

 at the extremities with white ; flights dusky, pale 

 brown externally ; tail blackish bi-own ; a narrow huffish 

 line from base of forehead over eye and down the sides 

 of the neck ; sides of head and throat black, extending 

 to fore-neck, where the feathers are white-tipped; 

 breast crossed by a broad white belt, with here and 

 there an isolated black bar; abdomen and under tail- 



