72 On Recollections of some Bird Friends.


and moreover he showed me their name, Munia fermiginosa, the

Javan Maja Finch, written for him by Mr. Frank Finn. That

decided me—my chance had come. There were only four birds,

and one appeared to be dying. I took the two healthiest, and

begged for the bodies of the other two if they should die, which

they both did before long, and I have their skins. My two lived,

and were gentle, affectionate birds, but decidedly dull. They

made no attempt at nesting, and this summer one of them died

just as it had finished moulting. It was very ill and weak for a

long time before it died, and its wife, or brother (I don’t know

the sex of the surviving bird) took the greatest care of it, sup¬

porting it by sitting close beside it, and protecting it from the

other birds. He really is a kind hearted bird, and now he is

nursing a delicate little Bicheno finch, sitting quite still while

she cuddles up to him all day long. He never moves even to eat

unless she goes first. So I have forgiven him for not earning the

medal, and really feel quite fond of him in spite of his dulness.

I have neverseen the Javan Maja Finches eat anything butspray

millet.


Another bird I am very proud of is my Himalayan Black-

crested Bunting, the survivor of two I bought as a pair, again

with a view to the Society’s medal. I saw these birds looking

very miserable in a cage with some Brown-headed Buntings and

Saffron Finches, who were pulling out the poor Black Bunting’s

feathers, and sucking the moist ends of them. Although warned

not to do so, as the birds were newly imported and far from well,

I bought them and took them home with me. One was glossy

black all over, excepting his tail and the flight feathers of his

wings, which were bright cinnamon brown. The other (which I

then thought was the hen, but have since discovered to be a

young male) had tawny margins to all its body feathers, giving it

a dull brownish look. The flights and tail were cinnamon as in

the larger bird. Both birds devoured mealworms voraciously,

but the older one was quite incapable of digesting anything it

ate, and it died in three days. The younger one soon got better

and began to sing. It moulted, but the feathers came back

with brown margins as before. This summer it has certainly

been getting blacker without moulting again. I think the



