1go1-1902.] Some Foreign Birds I have kept. 347 
The Avadavat is smaller than our smallest European wren, 
of slender build, and vivacious and graceful in his movements. 
His plumage is dark brown, with a carmine-red tint, and 
covered all over with small pearl-white spots. The female is 
more sober in her appearance, the back being brown and the 
chest, &c., a brownish-yellow tint. The white spots are visible 
also, but less numerous. Several pairs will live very peaceably 
together, and towards dusk they will all sit on the same 
perch, very close together, selecting generally the highest 
perch in the cage. At that time one and then another will 
suddenly raise itself and sing a little melodious stanza, settling 
down to sleep when it is over. The female will sing nearly 
as well as the male. 
The next bird is the Madagascar Bib or Dwarf finch—said 
to be one of the smallest of the finch family. I have only 
had this tiny bird in my possession for a few weeks, and 
regret that I can say very little about it. 
The Double-banded or Bicheno’s finch is the next one I 
show. The Latin name is Estrelda Bichenovii. The dealer’s 
name is Double-banded Finch. The German dealers’ is “ Rin- 
gelastrild” or “Gitterfliigel.” Compared with the brilliant 
hues of other foreign finches, the double-banded finch appears 
at first sight very modestly attired. A pure silvery-white is 
the ground colour. The feathers are delicately pencilled with 
fine black lines or bars, which, when seen at a distance, give 
the bird a light silvery-grey appearance, but examined more 
closely, the plumage of this finch, one of the smallest of the 
Australian finches, is of great beauty and marvellous delicacy. 
The face, throat, breast, and the lower part of the body are 
white. A narrow black line, which crosses the throat, 
extends from ear to ear. A second black line across the 
lower breast runs parallel with the former, and gives the bird 
the name of double-banded finch. The wings are black, but 
the feathers have rows of white square spots, which on the 
dark ground appear something like a trellis. The Germans 
have named this bird, for this reason, “lattice wing.” The 
beak is of silvery-grey tint, and the tail is black. The female 
bird cannot be distinguished from the male; possibly the 
markings of the female may not be so sharply pencilled, but 
this may be due to age just as well as to sex, and there is no 
