ESTRILDA. 347 



The female has the sides of face and neck, also the upper surface of the 

 body from the bill to the rump, hair brown ; upper tail coverts dull crimson ; 

 tail blackish brown, the two outer pairs of feathers with the terminal half of the 

 outer web broadly edged with white, the next two pairs merely tipped with 

 white ; chin, throat, breast and flanks greyish yellow ; abdomen and vent 

 saffron yellow ; wings brown, each of the feathers of the tertiaries and greater 

 coverts with a white spot at the tip ; under tail coverts same as the abdomen 

 but paler. 



Bill deep red, the posterior half of culmen black ; iris crimson ; legs flesh 

 colour. 



Length. 4 inches ; wing r8 ; tail i'5 ; tarsus 0-58 ; bill from gape, 0*36. 

 (00**.) 



Hal. Horsfield's Waxbill, Gates says, is very abundant in Southern Pegu. 

 It occurs in Rangoon, but is rare there. It has been procured near Bhamo and 

 is said to also occur in Siam and Cochin-China, and also in the islands of 

 Java, Timor, and Flores. Gates says " it is found only in grass land and 

 paddy fields." They associate in tolerably large flocks and feed on the 

 ground on minute seeds. Their flight is very rapid and is effected by con- 

 stant beatings of the wings, so rapidly carried out that the wings cannot be 

 clearly seen, and these tiny birds seem when flying like so many huge bees. 

 The nesting season commences about the middle of October and lasts till the 

 beginning of December. The nest is a spherical mass of grass lined with 

 feathers and placed near the ground in a soft tuft of grass. The eggs are 

 4 6 in number and white in colour. 



888. Estrilda amandava, Linn., P. E. 115*3; Reich., Sing. t. 4, 



25, 33; Jerd., Birds Ind. ii. p. 359, No. 704; Murray, Hdbk., Zool. t fyc., 

 Sind, p. 177 ; Gray, Handlist B. i. p. 60. The RED WAX-BILL. 



Summer Plumage. Feathers of the forehead and crown brown, tipped with 

 crimson ; a spot in front of the eye black ; a bright crimson supercilium, and 

 a row of white feathers under the eye ; sides of the face, chin, throat, breast, 

 flanks and upper tail coverts crimson, the feathers basally dark brown, and 

 those of the breast and upper tail coverts and flanks with a terminal white 

 spot ; back, rump, wing coverts, primaries, secondaries and tertiaries olive 

 brown, the tips of the coverts, tertiaries and some of the scapulars with a 

 white spot ; tail black, the outer feathers tipped with white ; lower tail coverts 

 black ; lower abdomen sooty or blackish brown. The female is like the 

 male, with the lower back and rump tinged crimson and a few white 

 spots ; the abdomen and vent whitish, as also the lower tail coverts ; bill 

 reddish, the upper mandible blackish on the edge ; irides crimson ; feet 

 fleshy. 



Length. 4 to 4*5 inches ; wing 1-9 ; tail 1*4. 



