AMADINA. 341 



Chin, throat, cheeks and ear coverts black ; forehead, top of head and lower 

 plumage bright yellow ; back and scapulars black, each feather broadly 

 margined with yellow ; rump and upper tail coverts bright yellow ; wings and 

 tail brown, margined with yellowish white. Bill black ; lower mandible dark 

 horn ; iris brown ; legs pinkish flesh colour. 



The Female in Summer and both Sexes in Winter have the whole lower 

 plumage with the cheeks and supercilium rusty, paling on the abdomen ; 

 upper plumage brown with broad yellowish brown margins ; tail and wings 

 brown, margined with yellowish white. (Oates.) 



Length. 5-5 to 5-7 inches; wing 2*7; tail 2-3; tarsus 0'8 ; bill from 

 gape 0-55. 



Hab. British Burmah, also Siam and Cochin-China and the Islands of Java 

 and Lombock. 



Oates says the stronghold of the Golden Weaver Bird lies in the large 

 plains of Southern Pegu, where it is extremely abundant. During winter they 

 associate with other species of Weaver birds, but in summer they break up, 

 and separate into small groups and keep apart. The nest he adds is a cylin- 

 drical structure made entirely of grass with an opening at the side, and is 

 attached to the tops of elephant grass. The eggs differ from other species of 

 Weaver birds ; they are 2 3 in number, and vary much in colour, being white, 

 greenish white or grey, or purplish unmarked, or speckled with grey or greenish 

 brown. The normal number is three, but two is common. 



Sub-Family. ESTRELDINLE. 



Bill large, conic, more or less bulged or slender ; wings short, rounded ; the 

 1st primary minute as in Ploceus. 



Gen. Amadina. Swains. 



Bill thick, as long as deep ; culmen arched, prolonged behind on the fore- 

 head ; tarsi stout, moderate. These birds inhabit grassy or reedy ground and 

 cultivation generally, feeding on rice, grain and other seeds. 



878. Amadina malacca (Lin.\ Jerd., B. ind. ii. p. 352, No. 697. 



Loxia malacca, Lin., Syst. Nat. i. p. 300; Edward, Birds, pi. 356, fig. 2. 



The BLACK-HEADED MUNIA. 



Head, neck and breast rich black ; back, wings and tail pure cinnamon red, 

 the upper tail coverts brighter, tinged with a glistening lustre ; under surface 

 of the body from below the breast white ; middle of abdomen and vent black. 

 Bill bluish, the tip yellowish ; irides dark brown ; legs plumbeous. 



Length. 4-5 inches ; wing 2'6 ; tail 1-5. 



The young is pale cinnamon brown above, whitish below, and dusky about 

 the head and neck. 



