180 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



sketch is, it shows very clearly the parentage of the 

 bird, the crown of the Lead and chin, the flank mark- 

 ings, and tail being most like the Chestnut-breasted 

 Finch ; but tlie size, outline, and colouring of the wings 

 and back resemble those of the Indian Silver-bill. The 

 form of the tail appears to correspond with that of the 

 Afric.in .Silver-bill. With the help of my preserved 

 skins and the rough sketch I think I produced a fair 

 portrait of the bird, the faults in the sketch being those 

 of form and striicti*ral detail. This hybrid between 

 Australian and Indian Grassfinches (or, more strictly 

 speaking, Mannikins) is very interesting, much more so 

 than the everlasting Canary Mules which one always 

 meets mth at bird shows, and is well worth an 

 illustration. 



Yellow-kumped >L4N.vikin [Munia Aaviprymna). 

 Back and wings chestnut-brown ; rump and upper 

 tail-coverts bright ochraceous ; tail-feathers brown edged 

 with straw-colour ; head all round ashy whitish, rather 

 whiter on the throat ; under surface of body creamy 

 buff, the breast washed with tawny ; thighs at back 

 brown flecked with white ; under tail-coverts black ; 

 under wing-coverts and margins of flights huffish ; beak 

 j)ale bluish ash, lower mandible almost white ; feet 

 pearl grey, more fleshy at proximal extremity ; irides 

 dark brown. Female slightly slimmer than male, its 

 beak a trifle narrower ; head somewhat greyer, breast 

 more tinted with tawny. Hab., Northern Territory of 

 Australia; Xorth- Western Australia, inland from 

 Cossack. 



Little has been publi.shed respecting the wild life of 

 this bird ; though it would appear from what Elsie 

 says that it builds in tea-trees overhanging water and 

 forms the usual type of nest of bark and Fandamis. 

 Up Ui 1904 this was one of the rarest birds in collections, 

 the only skin known in Europe being one obtained by 

 ilr. J. R. Elsie in 1856, in the British Museum 

 collection. 



In 1904 a few specimens were trapped, a pair of 

 which found their way to the Melbourne Zoological 

 Gardens, and one specimen was sent to England by 

 Mr. H. E. Peir to compet-e at various bird-shows. 

 When first shown the judge imagined it to be a hybrid 

 and awarded it only a .-second prize ; but at the Grand 

 National, in January, 1905, it took first and special 

 prizes. Since that date M. flariprymna has been im- 

 ported in increasing numbers. Messrs. Payne and 

 Wallace having introduced considerable numbers into 

 the market, so that early in 1906 I purchased three 

 pairs, and shortly afterwards had two pairs sent to me 

 by an unknown friend. 



Mr. Seth-Smith gave an illustrated account of the 

 species in 1905 {The Ainculfural Magazine, N.s., 

 Vol. III., pp. 215-217). He rightly states that the call- 

 note resembles that of the Chestnut-breasted Finch ; but 

 I do not admit the identity of the songs of the two 

 birds ; that of M. Aaviprymna consists of four notes, 

 each repeated from four to six times as follows : — 



ritard. 



"y Mi l l ' M i l ^-af*--^*- 



The Chestnut-breast has a far more monotonous song, 

 but with two double notes at the finish which I 

 rendered as ttveeo, twee-ur. As I had five cocks and 

 four hens of that species and have had (imd still have 

 jis I write) several cocks of the Yellow-rimiped Finch, I 

 am certain that if the songs are ever alike they are 

 certainly not so as a rule. 



In 1906 Mr. W. E. Teeobcmaker successfully bred the 



species, and in The Avicullurai Magazine for February, 

 1907, he gives a full account of his experiences, and 

 calls attention to the fact that certain si>ecimens after 

 importation tend to assume the colouring of the Chest- 

 nut-breasted Finch. He thinks this is due to the two 

 being compelled to associate by a, chiuice circumstance 

 and jjroducing hybrids. By nature M. ilaviprymna is 

 said to be a desert species whioh does not normally 

 associate with M. caslaHeithorax. In May of the same 

 year Mr. Seth-Smith published an interesting article 

 Illustrated by a plate representing intergrades between 

 the two birds. He regards them merely as subsi)ecie6, 

 the Yellow-rump being modified by the dry country 

 which it affects, but liable to revert to the type of 

 M. castaneithorax when subjected to a moist climate. 

 As none of my birds have undergone this change 1 

 turned a pair into my larger garden aviary early in 

 1907; soon after the cock had its head torn off through 

 the wire-netting by a cat, but the hen is still there as 

 I write in January, 1908. As everyone will admit the 

 winter has been an unusually wet one, and this with 

 other small birds has generally spent the night in the 

 open ; but, so far, I see no change in the plumage, as I 

 should like to. 



White-he.*ded M-\nnikin {Munia maja). 



Above head white, tinted on the nape and throat 

 with buff ; tlie back and wings dark red-brown ; the 

 flight and tail feathers wath the inner webs dark brown ; 

 the rump and upper tail-coverts shining deep rufouj 

 brown ; the centre tail feathers and outer edges of the 

 remainder shining fiery rufous-brown ; the lower part 

 of the neck and the chest brownish buff ; the sides dark 

 red-brown ; the belly, thighs, and under tail-coverts 

 black ; beak bluish-grey ; iris of eye dark brown ; feel 

 slaty black. The female is altogether more smoky in 

 colouring. Hab., Malacca, Sumatra, and Java. 



The nest is of the usual character, and formed of 

 various grasses ; it is usually suspended in reeds. Two 

 to three white eggs are said to form a complete clutch. 



The White-headed Mannikin is another of the 

 numerous birds which devastate the rice-fields. 



Wher« nesting in captivity this species behaves like 

 its Black-head^ relative. Indeed, one pair of Black- 

 heads which I had exchanged partners and all nested 

 together in the same box, but no eggs were hatched. 



In captivity this bird is extremely hardy and long- 

 lived; indeed {as recorded in my "Foreign Finches in 

 Captivity ") one of my pairs attained the respectable 

 ages of seventeen and eighteen years respectivcJy. Since 

 they died I have had only one pair, but they are not 

 always obtainable. Possibly, as they are intensely 

 stupid birds, there may be little inducement to import 

 tiiem- 



Javan Maja-Finch (Munia fcrmginosa). 



Differs from the White-headed Mannikin in its deeper 

 chestnut colouring, entirely black throat and fore-neck ; 

 remainder of body below deep maroon, black in the 

 centre. Hab., Java. 



According to Bernstein (cf. Bartlett, Monogr. Weavers 

 and Finches, p. 45) : " During the months vfhen the 

 rice-fields are flooded and under cultivation, Munia 

 frrrui/inea. like the Rice-bird, inliabits small w<K>ds, 

 thickets and hedges along the roods, or between fields 

 and meadows ; sometimes, also, it lives in little wilder- 

 nesses formed by Alang-Alang and low bushes, which 

 latter it seems to prefer, as I never yet found it missing 

 in such places. As soon, however, as the rioe begins 

 to ripen it l>etakes it.'ielf to the fields, and by its 

 numbers not unfrequently works considerable damage. 

 Smaller and quicker in it^ movements th«n the Rice- . 



