THE THRRE-COLOURED MANNIKIN. 239 



By the way, in reading the descriptions of all nests of the Ploccidce, 

 one comes across the curious anomaly of a sphere having sides. Can 

 a spherical nest have a hole at the side ? It can have an entrance 

 from outside to inside, but it must be in the front, whichever way the 

 nest is turned, because the entrance alone indicates the front. 



Dr. Russ says, that he first received this species after the appear- 

 ance of his Handbook, and in spite of the fact that he kept several 

 pairs in his bird-room, he never succeeded in rearing a single brood 

 from them. This has also been my experience : I have had them pair, 

 build and lay in a cigar nest-box, yet none of the eggs have ever been 

 hatched ; but I have found this equally the case with all the other 

 Mannikins, they are always building and laying, even pulling other 

 birds' nests to pieces to add to their own ; they are always ready to 

 pair with other allied species, but when sitting they seem restless, easily 

 disturbed and, at times, spiteful towards other birds which approach 

 their nests, springing off their eggs to attack them, and that with such 

 eagernes, that the eggs are frequently kicked out of the saucer-shaped 

 receptacle into the corners of the box, where they are left to dry up. 

 Probably the best chance of breeding the species, of typical Mannikins, 

 would be to keep each pair in a separate spacious breeding-cage, but 

 with such common and cheap birds, it seems hardly worth while to 

 devote a large cage to them, when it might be more profitably employed 

 for breeding valuable species : nevertheless, in the case of the Three- 

 coloured Mannikin, the beauty of the bird might tempt one to do so. 



Dr. Russ asserts that the Three-coloured Mannikin is a harmless, 

 loveable little bird : my experience is, that in a cage with many other 

 Mannikins it is absohitely innocent, but, when building or sitting, it 

 is quarrelsome in the extreme ; it will fight over a particular hay-stalk, 

 when there is a heap to select from, will fly after some little Waxbill 

 which is carrying a bent to its nest, seize the free end and jerk it 

 violently away : its fights with other Mannikins are harmless, because 

 they consist entirely of blows, delivered by each combatant on its 

 opponent's beak ; but, when an attack is made upon a Waxbill, they 

 are delivered on the crown of the head, a single blow sometimes 

 sufficing to kill. 



Illustration from living specimens and skins in the author's 

 collection. 



