50 BIRDS OF THE PLAINS 



angering his Sahib. Thus they struggle in grim 

 silence. Eventually one is victorious and walks off 

 in triumph with the dish. The defeated servant at 

 once accepts the situation ; so is it with a munia ejected 

 from a central position. 



Although amadavats are widely distributed in India 

 and fairly common in most parts of the country, they 

 usually escape notice on account of their small size. 

 When flying overhead they are probably mistaken for 

 sparrows. Moreover, they do not often visit gardens ; 

 they prefer open country. 



Amadavats belong to the finch family, to the great tribe 

 which includes the sparrow, the canary, and the weaver- 

 bird. By their coarse, stout beak, tapering to a point, 

 you may know them. The use of this big beak is to 

 husk grain. Finches do not gobble up their seed whole 

 as pigeons or fowls do ; they carefully husk each grain 

 before swallowing it. Hence the meal of a bird of this 

 family is a somewhat protracted affair. He who keeps 

 an aviary should remember this and provide his birds 

 with several seed-boxes, otherwise one or two bullies 

 (for there are bullies even among tiny birds) are apt to 

 monopolise the food. 



He should also bear in mind that Nature does not 

 provide her feathered children with teeth. Seed-eating 

 birds, therefore, habitually swallow small stones and 

 pieces of grit. These perform the function of millstones 

 inside the bird. From this it follows that it is cruel to 

 keep seed-eating birds without supplying them with 

 sand and grit. 



The bone of a cuttle-fish, tied to the wall of the cage, 



