MANNIKINS. 



179 



coverts vinous-grey ; sides of body varied with white 

 bars, edged on each side with black ; under tail-coverts 

 dusky, the longer ones broadly tipped with pale vina* 

 ceous, following a subterminal white line ; under wing- 

 ooverts and inner edges of nights vinaceous ; beak pale 

 bluish grey ; feet flesh-coloured ; irides dark brown. 

 Female with the white breast regularly barred with 

 black. Hab., "North-West Australia, Northern Ter- 

 ritory, and North Queensland." (Campbell.) 



Beyond the fact that the Galvert expedition saw this 

 species feeding amongst long grass or flying from tree 

 to tree, nothing appears; to have beea recorded of the 

 life of this bird previous to 1897. At the end of February 

 of that year the nest was obtained by Mr. G. A. Keart- 

 land. It was of the usual flask-like shape, constructed 

 of grass lined with finer material, and placed in a bush, 

 about ten feet from the ground. Campbell tells na 

 ("Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds," p. 1080) : "The 

 eggs are long ovals in shape ; texture fine ; surface 

 without gloss; colour, white, with the faintest bluish 

 tinge. A pair from a clutch of four, taken by Mr. G. 

 A. Keartland, in North-West Australia, measure In 

 inches (1) .62 by .43, (2) .6 by .42." 



This species, which had always been regarded as an 

 extreme rarity, first appeared as a cage-bird in May, 

 1896, when a single specimen was exhibited at a show 

 at Brighton, and from that date they arrived each year 

 in increasing numbers. 



I purchased my first two pairs of Pectoral Finches in 

 May and June, 1905, and turned them into my smaller 

 garden aviary, where they did nob themselves build, 

 but took possession of nests built by my Rufous-tailed 

 Grassfinches, as mere places to squat in. Before the 

 end of the year one pair had mysteriously disappeared, 

 and I never even found the remains. I can only con- 

 jecture that they escaped through a knot-hole, but if 

 so, it must have been a tight squeeze. On March 20th, 



1906, I received, among other birds, as a present from 

 rome unknown friend, three Pectoral Finches a per- 

 fect pair, and a blind hen, which I subsequently gave 

 away. I put my old pair into one of my bird-room 

 aviaries, and the new pair into a smaller indoor aviary ; 

 neither pair attempted to breed. 



In 1907 I turned one pair into my larger garden 

 aviary, where again they never attempted to breed, but 

 during December both disappeared. Of the pair left 

 indoors one example also disappeared during the year, 

 so that of the seven examples which I have had of this, 

 pretty Mannikin, only one was left me at the end of 



1907, and I had secured not a single skin for my col- 

 lection. In 1905 the Pectoral Finch was bred by Mrs. 

 Howard Williams. 



CHESTNUT-BREASTED FINCH (Munla castaneithorax) . 



The upper part of the head and nape are pale ashy 

 brown with darker streaks, the remainder of the upper 

 surface cinnamon-brown ; the rump and upper tail- 

 coverts glossy straw-coloured, as are the central tail 

 feathers, but the remainder are dark brown with 

 yellowish edges ; the sides of the face are blackish 

 with pale shaft-streaks ; chin and throat blackish ; 

 sides and front of neck and chest pale chestnut, 

 bounded behind by a black girdle ; breast and abdo- 

 men white, the sides cinnamon barred with black and 

 white ; vent, under tail-coverts and tail below black ; 

 beak pale blue-grey ; feet greyish brown ; iris brown. 



The female has a slightly more finely formed beak, 

 has a rather paler chestnut belt on the breast, with 

 the black girdle a little narrower and the black mark- 

 ings on the sides less defined, as also is the streaking 

 of the crown ; but the differences are not very obvious 



until the birds are taken one in each hand and com- 

 pared side by side. Habitat, Northern Territory of 

 Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales. 



The Chestnut-breast breeds in extensive grass and 

 reed beds, bordering the banks of lagoons and rivers ; 

 its nest is large and flask-shaped, the neck of the 

 flask (which is in front), represented by the entrance 

 passage ; it is placed near the top of a bushy shrub or 

 in tangle, and is formed of grasses and leaves of reeds, 

 intermixed with fine stems of gardenia or lobelia ; the 

 lining consists of the feathery tops of reeds, flags, and 

 sometimes a few feathers. Four to five white eggs 

 are deposited. 



Although this Mannikin is always ready to sing and 

 dance to its hen, and even interrupts the breeding of 

 other species by carrying hay into their nests, I have 

 never been successful in getting it seriously to take 

 up housekeeping. Its song is a little louder than that 



HYBRID GEASSFINCH. 



of others of the more typical Mannikins " Whit, whit, 

 whit, whit ; wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-ivee-wee, tweeo, 

 twee-ur." 



This 'Mannikin formerly fetched rather a high price ; 

 but of late years it has become somewhat more reason- 

 able. I have at various times had nine examples, and 

 have found the species quite hardy and fairly long- 

 lived when once acclimatised. 



Mr. Abrahams sent me some years ago a very rough 

 coloured sketch, with description, of a hybrid Finch 

 bred by Mr. Herbert Bagnall, of Cheltenham. Mr. 

 Bagnall writes: "The accompanying rough sketch is 

 of a hybrid between a cock Chestnut Finch and hen 

 Indian Silver-bill. It was bred in my aviary last 

 summer, the nest being made in a cigar-box. Until 

 about two months ago the bird was chiefly of a dark 

 brown hue, with a brown tail ; it has now become very 

 beautiful, as most of the body is finely pencilled with 

 brown stripes, and the tail has become reddish orange, 

 and very pointed. The bird is very slim, and its note 

 is that of the Silver-bill ; it warbles continually. A 

 second bird was reared with it, but unfortunately died 

 when about six months old." Rough as Mr. Bagnall's 



