THE FINCHES. 9} 
The Avadavat is one of the birds most commonly caged 
in India and has been exported to Europe for centuries ; 
indeed, the very name is a corruption of Ahmedabad, 
the city whence presumably they used to be consigned. 
The bird, although not frequenting compounds and 
gardens, is a very common one, being found all over 
India and Ceylon, and extending east to Singapore and 
Java. Burmese specimens, and those from Flores and 
Timor, are considered a distinct species (Sporaginthus 
flavidiventris), because the males have an orange belly 
instead of a black one, the ordinary cock Avadavat 
being very dark below. It is very probable that the 
light-bellied bird is merely a variety, which has become 
fixed in some localities. This Burmese bird breeds in 
October and November, but the Indian one in the rains 
as well, having apparently two broods a year. The nest 
is a round one, placed near the ground, and the eggs are 
white. The cock has a clear and pretty, though short, 
little song. 
The Avadavat lives well as a cage or aviary bird, but 
seldom breeds in confinement. In a cage he should not 
be crowded up with Munias, which have so much stronger 
bills, although this is too frequently done. He should 
have a little egg-food at all times if he will eat it, and 
plenty of flowering grass, as well as the usual canary and 
millet. Well treated, these tiny things will live for years. 
There is only one other Indian Waxbill, the green Avadavat 
(Stictospiza formosa), whose name denotes its colour ; one 
or two foreign species are also imported at times, and all 
these very small birds may well be kept together. 
