THE BENGALEE. 213 



firstly, white pied with purplish-brown, the patches of colour, as a 

 rule, being chiefly on the crown, leaving two large spots behind the 

 beak on the forehead ; the shoulder and thighs, the back, wing-coverts 

 and secondaries are similarly coloured. The second form is white, 

 similarly pied with fawn-colour, and the third is pure white. All 

 three have flesh-tinted beaks and legs, and black-brown eyes. The 

 dark brown pied type is slightly the largest, and has a dark upper 

 mandible, and the white type the smallest. 



The Bengalee has been called Pied Mannikin ; Dr. Russ, who 

 regards the three forms as varieties of the Sharp-tailed Finch, calls 

 them respectively " Spermestes acnticauda var. griseo-maculata" " var. 

 flavo-maciilata" and " var. alba ; " but Mr. Wiener regards them as 

 varieties of Uroloncha striata. Mr. Abrahams writes as follows : "In 

 my opinion the Bengalees are a cross between the Striated Finch 

 (Munia StriataJ and the Indian Silver-bill. If you look at the back 

 of the Bengalees you will see the distinctive marks of the Striated 

 Finch." 



Although I was personally inclined to think, from the similarity 

 of song, in what at first I took to be the Sharp-tailed Finch, that the 

 latter was one of the ancestors of the Bengalee, I immediately yielded 

 to Mr. Abrahams' far wider experience ; indeed, I have since discovered 

 that the song of the two species, U. striata and U. acuticauda, is some- 

 what similar.* Moreover, we must bear in mind the fact that Dr. 

 Russ associates " Spermestes striata, Spermestes melanopygia and Spermestes 

 acuticauda under one description, and says : " These three species are 

 universally known, and beloved in the bird trade, under the de- 

 nomination of Bronze Mannikins, mostly without being individually 

 distinguished." This is not, strictly speaking, correct, because in 

 England the true Spermestes (and more especially 5. cucullatd) are 

 alone sold under this name ; the Indian birds of the genus Uroloncha 

 being probably confounded by the small dealers, under the designation 

 of "Sharp-tailed Finches." 



The inferior size of all three varieties, and the fact that (although 

 domesticated) they are by no means prolific, seem to me strong indica- 

 tions that the Bengalee is not a pure descendent from the Striated 

 Finch. 



My first two pairs of Pied Bengalees were presented to me by the 

 Hon. Walter de Rothschild, and greatly delighted me by their tameness, 

 and their comical jerky little actions ; but Mr. Wiener's account of 



* My birds, however, proved to be " Straited-F'inches," though sold to me as "Sharp-tailed 

 Finches." A.G.B. 



