N. Taka-Tsukasa—Aviculture in Japan



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Bengalee or Pied Mannikin. This bird is also very popular in

Japan, and is divided into three varieties by the bird-lovers according

to coloration : firstly, the albino, in which the plumage is all white, and

it has flesh-coloured bill and legs, but the eyes are not red; secondly,

the cinnamon and white bird ; and thirdly, the dark-brown and white

bird. The markings of these varieties are bold and irregular, and the

bill is black on the upper mandible and flesh-coloured on the lower,

and the legs of these two varieties are equally flesh-coloured.


The box-cage suits this bird the best, because it has been hatched

and lived all its life for over 100 years in such a box-cage, so the con¬

stitution of this bird has become quite adapted to a box-cage, and

generally it is too delicate to live in an aviary or a large cage.


This bird can also stand very simple diet, which consists of any one

kind of millet, and this is the only bird which accepts the artificial

nest sold at the bird fanciers’ shops without any alterations having

to be made to it. The artificial nest for this bird is jar-shaped, and if

we give it some materials for nest-building it instantly makes a nest and

hatches its eggs, and as soon as its young leave the nest it lays another

clutch M eggs ; thus it gives us many broods through a year, but

generally we have two broods in the spring and the same in the

autumn.


The number of a clutch of eggs is either three or four, and the

fledglings can easily be reared, as they are generally very strong and

the parents take great care of their young. As this bird has generally

a very good nature it is often (nearly in all cases) used as a foster-

mother for the Zebra Finches, Gouldian Finches, and other rare species

of the ornamental Finches.


An old Japanese book on the cage-birds tells us that this bird

comes from China, and in the original species the upper parts are dark

brown and the breast and abdomen are white with pale dusky streaks.

Its bill is black and the legs are pale bluish-grey, and its tail is long and

pointed. According to this description I think that the Bengalee

comes from the Sharp-tail Finch (Uroloncha acuticauda), which is

a common bird in the southern parts of China, Formosa, and other

tropical parts of Asia.


This bird was imported into Japan about 200 years ago, and during



