MANNIKINS. 



177 



the grass, on the fallen seeds. If disturbed they rise 

 suddenly, with a curious metallic ' chirp,' fly a short 

 distance, and settle again directly on the ground with- 

 out first perching on bushes or weeds. As a rule, their 

 flight is rapid and direct, but they sometimes rise with 

 their usual sharp cry and fall again on the spot from 

 which they rose." Mr. T. Ayres gives the following 

 account of the nest found near Potchefstroom on the 

 30th of April, in The Ibis for 1878, p. 297 : " This 

 pretty little fellow I shot as he rose from the nest, 

 where he had evidently been doing duty for his wife, 

 by sitting on the eggs in her absence. The nest was 

 a very rough structure, placed on the ground amongst 

 the grass and not easily seen, from its being composed 

 of dead blades of grass ; it was lined with a few coarse 

 feathers, and in shape was much like the nests of some 

 of the Sunbirds, with a projecting cave over the en- 

 trance, but all very rough. The eggs were five in 

 number and pure white ; length, 0.54 ; breadth, 0.47. 

 Eggs in the South African Museum at Cape Town are 

 rounded ovates, without gloss and pure white. They 

 average 0.62 by 0.48." 



Shelley calls this bird " Temminck's Bar-breasted 

 Mannikin," and I suppose it is a Mannikin in spite of 

 its red beak, but the question as to whether it is, or 

 whether it should be called a Grassfinch, is of little 

 importance. 



Mr. Seth-Smith published a short illustrated notice 

 of this rare Finch in The Avicultural Magazine, 

 N.S., Vol. IV., pp. 170-172. The London Zoological 

 Society received two pairs in 1906, and Messrs. 

 Hawkins and O'Reilly acquired specimens in 1907. 

 SHARP-TAILED FINCH (Uroloncha acuticauda). 

 The Sharp-tailed Finch is reddish brown, with pale 

 shafts to the feathers, the crown and upper back, face 

 and throat darker ; feathers of the rump and upper 

 tail-coverts, sides of neck and breast with pale margins ; 

 a white belt barred with grey across the lower back ; 

 the chest and abdomen sordid sandy whitish streaked 

 with grey ; wings dark brown ; tail black ; beak, feet, 

 -and iris as in U. striata. 



The sexes differ chiefly in form of beak, as in the 

 allied species. 



Common in the Himalayas, Burma, Malacca, and 

 Sumatra. 



This species is gregarious, occurring in large flocks 

 which feed chiefly upon the ground, but are also very 

 destructive in the rice fields. It breeds certainly from 

 June to December, building a rather compact spherical 

 nest of grasses and leaves, the lining being formed of 

 the finer stems with seed pannicles attached, some of 

 which protrude through the opening and form a de- 

 pressed entrance-passage. The nest is placed from six 

 to twenty feet above the ground in scrub or small trees. 

 Five to six white eggs are deposited. Its song is not 

 much unlike that of the Bengalee. 



In captivity this species is hardy, long-lived, and 

 seems always willing to breed ; but, unless crossed with 

 the Bengalee, the eggs seem to be rarely hatched. It 

 appears to be a somewhat nervous bird, therefore (unless 

 the nest is well concealed from observation) is probably 

 always a bad sitter, starting from, its duties at the 

 slightest alarm. As with all the Mannikins, millet, 

 canary, and oats are the only seeds it requires to keep 

 it healthy. 



Some years ago I bred crosses between this species 

 and the domesticated Bengalee, and they closely re- 

 sembled the wild bird, excepting for a white feather or 

 "two in wings or tail ; but the variety used was the 

 fawn and white Bengalee, which is most like U. acuti- 

 cauda, and was, I now believe, originated iby crossing 

 "the latter with the modified descendants of 17. striata. 



It is nearly related to the Striated Finch, with which 

 it was for many years confounded in the bird m/arket ; 

 but Dr. Russ'is notion that it could hardly be considered 

 a distinct species makes one wonder whether he ever 

 possessed both birds, inasmuch as the most superficial 

 glance reveals abundant difference. 



STRIATED FINCH (Uroloncha striata). 



Of a smoky bronze-brown colour, becoming almost 

 black on the crown, tail, and breast. The feathers on 

 the back and the wing-coverts have pale shafts (a cha- 

 racter also found in the Bengalee) ; there is >a white belt 

 across the lower back; tihe hind chest and abdomen 

 are buifish 'white, eome of the feathers showing a 

 dusky edging to the fringe. The beak is leaden grey, 

 the upper mandible darker than the lower; the feet 

 paler leaden grey; the i/ris reddish brown. Hiab., 

 Central and Southern India and Ceylon. 



This is one of tine familiar Finches of India, where it 

 appears to breed nearly the whole year round. Though 

 fond of inhabited and cultivated districts, it is said to 

 be shy of approaching houses, and builds its nest in a 

 bush, a creeper, or a small tree. In form both nest 

 and eggs are characteristic of the group to which it 

 belongs, the form of tihe nest being either spherical 

 OT oval, with the entrance in front towards the top. 

 It is chiefly constructed of grass, the coarser blades 

 being used for the outside and the finer for the lining. 

 From four to eight white eggs are deposited. 



Common as this bird is, it is not always to be seen in 

 the bird market. I purchased two examples in 1892, 

 since which time I 'have never teen another, although 

 I have once or twice heard of specimens for sale. The 

 species seems vigorous enough, but one of my specimens 

 died April 10th, 1898, the other being healthy for a 

 year or two later. There is nothing especially interest- 

 ing about this Mannikin, ; but the same may be said 

 of nearly the whole group. It has been bred in Ger- 

 many and England. 



I have not the least doubt that the dark brown and 

 white form of the Bengalee was derived direct from this 

 species ; its colouring and the barred band across the 

 back of the breast indicating the completion of the 

 dark brown on the chest of U. striata, as well as the 

 fact that this form of Bengalee sometimes has a dark 

 brown tail and always a well-defined indication of the 

 white belt across the lower back, all tend to confirm 

 the truth of thds conclusion, whereas there is nothing 

 but its slightly superior size, the two white spots on 

 the forehead, and the grey bars on the white dorsarbelt 

 to distinguish it. 



In 1906 Mr. Teschemaker 'bred crosses between 

 U. striata and the Bengalee, of which he sent me a 

 pair on 23rd October. They were extraordinarily lake 

 U. acuticauda, from which fact Captain Perreau sub- 

 sequently concluded that the Bengalee must have been 

 derived from the latter species, and not from 

 U. striata, though he thought the latter might have 

 played some part in its derivation ; practically this 

 decision is simply my own reversed I concluding that 

 T7. striata produce the Bengalee and U. acuticauda 

 differentiated it into three forms. 



In 1907 Mr. Teschemaker wrote to The Avicultural 

 Magazine, N.S., Vol. V., p. 251: "Perhaps it may ba 

 of interest to mention that two of my Bengalee 

 Strdateds . . . which Dr. Butler rightly describes 

 as closely resembling adult 'Sharp-tailed Finches have 

 this year paired and produced three young. 



" One of these exactly resembled the parents, but the 

 other two were a typical dark brown and white anil a. 

 typical fawn Bengalee." 



I consider this fact conclusively proves my view ol 



M 



