THE AMAXDAVA. 199 



These birds, like the Amandava, vary in colour. In some, 

 the tail is entirely brown ; in others, the upper part of the 

 body is brown, the lower white, and the rump crimson. 

 Others, again, are yellow on the lower part of the body, and on 

 the upper spotted with white ; and some have even been no- 

 ticed with blueish neck and throat; the upper part of the 

 body blue, and the lower part white, mixed with rust colour. 



Observations. These birds, which are frequently brought to 

 Europe, are natives of the Canary Islands, Madeira, Senegal, 

 the Cape of Good Hope, and India. Their beauty and affec- 

 tionate disposition, which is manifested not only between the 

 sexes, but even when several pairs are kept in one cage, are 

 their chief recommendation. Their song presents nothing re- 

 markable. They are to be fed with millet, which is their 

 natural food, and to fields of which grain they are said to 

 do great damage. 



74. THE AMANDAVA. 



Loxia, or Fringilla Amandava, LIN. Bengali Piqnete, BUF. Der 

 Getiegerte Bengalist, BECH. 



Description. This beautiful bird, which is now frequently 

 imported from Bengal, Java, Malacca, and other parts of Asia, 

 is not more than four inches in length. I am induced, by its 

 shape, to place it among the Grosbeaks, though I am aware 

 many class it with the Finches. The beak is four lines in 

 length, thick, and bright blood red. The iris is light red ; the 

 feet pale flesh colour, and the shanks half an inch in height. 

 In the male, the head and under part of the body are of a fiery 

 red ; the upper part is dark grey ; but all the feathers have 

 so wide a margin of red, that here also the latter seems to 

 be the prevailing colour. The rump appears of a bright 

 yellowish red ; though the feathers are really blackish, and are 

 only edged with yellow ; the belly and vent are black. All 

 the feathers of the back, the wing coverts, the hinder pen 

 feathers, tail feathers, side feathers of breast and belly, and 

 the feathers of the vent and rump, are tipped with white. 

 These spots are most distinctly marked on the hinder pen 

 feathers, and the large wing coverts. The wing coverts and 

 pen feathers themselves are blackish. 



In the female, which is only about two thirds the size of 

 the male, part of the upper mandible is black ; the head, and 

 upper part of the body, together with the wing coverts, are 



