MANNIKIN8. 



185 



near the tips ; outer greater coverts, primary coverts 

 and bastard-wing blackish edged with chestnut ; flights 

 black, witli small white spots on outer web ; inner 

 secondaries rufescent externally, the innermost ones 

 chestnut ; taiil black ; head all round black ; rest of 

 body below white ; thighs black externally ; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries white, edge of wing mottled with 

 black ; flights below blackish, greyer at the edges, 

 whitish towards the base. Female said to be slightly 

 larger than male. Hab., East Africa from Natal to the 

 Equator ; a smaller form inhabits Somaliland. 



According to Shelley ("Birds of Africa,'' Vol. IV., 

 Part 1, p. 167), " Fischer, in his letters from Zanzibar, 

 informs us that he found the species in flocks of twenty 

 to thirty in the fields, feeding in company with other 

 small Weavers, and he once met with it in the town, 

 where it is known to the natives as the " Tonga Kanga," 

 the word " Tongo " being apparently the generic name 

 for all the members of the group, and might be trans- 

 lated as " Mannikin." He also met with the species 

 at Bagamoio, Pangani, Mombas, Lamu, and the Tana 

 River. Hi I de-bran dt and Kalkreuth found a nest of this 

 species near Mombasa in July ; it was placed in a bush 

 and conistruebed of grass. The egg is described .by Mr. 

 Nehrkorn as being white and measuring 0.56 by 0.40." 



Mr. Hawkins exhibited a specimen of this rare 

 Mannikin in 1895, 1896. and 1897. Specimens were im- 

 ported and advertised in 1907, and doubtless then got 

 into the hands of various aviculturists.* 



BRONZE MANNIKIN ^Sj)ermestes cucullata). 



Brown above ; the top of the head darker and with a 

 greenish gloss, the forehead nearly black ; the lower 

 back is ipaler, becoming whitiish with dark brown bars 

 on the rump and the upper tail-coverts ; tail dull black ; 

 a 'band of metallic green crossing the shoulder; wings 

 brown, the lesser coverts sometimes slightly greenish, 

 outer webs of primaries narrowly whitish ; tihe sides of 

 head as Avell as the chin, throat, and chest bronze- 

 brown with faint purplish gloss, the fringes of the 

 feathers greenish; breast and abdomen white, the 

 sides barred in front with greenish black, behind with 

 brown ; under tail-coverts with blackish bars ; beak 

 leaden-grey, the upper mandible darker; feet dark 

 horn-brown, ; iris brown. 



The female is a little smaller than the male, has a. 

 narrower head, and more regularly tapering beak; her 

 breast-patch is slightly more restricted and less glossy, 

 and the upper parts rather browner ; as a rule, when 

 fully adult, the metallic shoulder band is smaller than 

 in the male, but I have met with exceptional specimens 

 in which this band was very prominent. Hab., West 

 Africa from Senegambia to Angola, and across Equatorial 

 Africa to the Kavirondo district, east of Victoria 

 Nyanza. 



In Shelley's "Birds of Africa," Vol. IV., Part 1. 

 pp. 168-170, are various accounts of the wild life by 

 different observers. The following will be sufficient for 

 the present work : Ussher writes: "Exceedingly 

 common on the west coast, where large flocks of them, 

 in company with other Finches, rise, when disturbed, 

 from the long grass, on the seeds of which they are very 

 fond of feeding. They are captured in some quantities 

 by the natiives on various parts of the coast, especially 

 at the Gambia and in the French settlements of Senegal, 

 when they are exiported, with many other varieties of 

 Finches, to Europe." 



Mr. Kemp writes from Sierra Leone : " The nests are 

 somewhat spherical and are placed in thick, small 



* I believe the late Mr. Erskine Allon also had specimens in his 

 birdroom. 



bushes, banana trees, the palm-leaved roofs of huts, or 

 other convenient places, fiom the middle of August to 

 February, and usually contain five eggs of a dirty white 

 colour. In the rains they roost in these nests, often five 

 or six birds together, and can be caught at night with a 

 butterfly net and a lantern." 



Four represents the normal number of the -white eggs r 

 but as many as seven may be laid. In captivity a cigar 

 nest-box is usually selected, but Dr. Russ found that a 

 Hartz cage was preferred. This gentleman 'bred the 

 species abundantly even in a small cage, but I have 

 hitherto not been successful, having lost most of my 

 hens through egg-binding. One I saved and turned into 

 a good-sized aviary, where it consorted with Sharp-tailed 

 Finches. Another, mated to a Parson Finch, was 

 always building, but without result. It is quite a hardy 

 species. 



Why this species should be so much more freely im- 

 ported than the Two-coloured specie's (which also occurs 

 in Western Africa) I cannot explain. Both are pretty 

 little birds. 



BIB FINCH (Spermestes nana). 



The male above is brown, with the rump and upper 

 tail-coverts straw coloured ; the primaries, outer 

 secondaries, and tail blackish ; crown of head greyer 

 than back, sides of head grey, the lores and a bib-like 

 patch on the throat black ; under parts pale fulvous- 

 brown, slightly greyer on the breast ; under tail-coverts 

 blackish with ochreous margins ; upper mandible black, 

 lower whitish ; feet flesh coloured ; iris brown. 



I am not sure of the sexual differences in this bird, 

 not having seen enough examples to be quite certain ; 

 but I believe the female to be a little smaller and more 

 slim in build, with a slightly smaller black bib. Un- 

 doubtedly both sexes have this marking. Hab., Mada- 

 gascar and the small island of Mayotte. 



Grandidier, in his splendid work on Madagascar, says 

 that they are to be met with in all plantations and 

 cultivated ground in flocks of from twenty to forty 

 individuals. They are constantly on the move, climb- 

 ing along the stems of the corn, or flitting from one 

 tuft of grass to another, disappearing quickly when 

 alarmed. The nest is woven out of the stems of grass- 

 and lined with softer grass ; they lay three or four eggs 

 in a nest. Grandidier incorrectly describes the eggs, 

 which, as usual, are white, measuring, according to 

 Nehrkorn, 0.56 by 0.4. 



The Dwarf or Bib Finch (sometimes called the 

 " African Parson Finch ") is the smallest of all the 

 Mannikins, and one of the most pleasing. Unhappily, 

 when imported, which is only now and then, though it 

 is cheap enough, it is, as a rule, in very poor condi- 

 tion ; indeed, the two or three which I have purchased 

 only survived a few days, being badly pecked and thin. 

 The species is a native of Madagascar and the Comoro 

 Islands. 



Dr. Russ says that it was first bred in 1885 by 

 Lieutenant Hauth, four young being reared, after 

 which it often bred with him. They are readily in- 

 duced to breed and bring up their young with certainty. 

 In two instances Bengalees incubated and brought up 

 families of these birds. Three to seven eggs are laid" 

 usually in a Hartz cage, the nest being formed of cocoa- 

 fibre, "fragments of wadding, and feathers. Incubation 

 lasts thirteen days. 



In this country the Rev. C. D. Farrar has bred the 

 Dwarf Finch in his garden aviary. Undoubtedly the 

 most certain and easiest method of breeding most 

 foreign birds is to net in a large portion of one's 

 garden with growing shrubs in abundance and plenty 

 of shelter ; only everyone cannot make up his mind to- 

 do this. 



