264' F. Finn — Notes on the Floceidie. [No. 4, 



from the Munins or Mannikius, Grassfinclies and Waxbills on the 

 ofclier. We can hardly hope for anatomical characters of distinction in 

 such a gioup as the Oscinine Passeres, and so in my search for a structural 

 character to separate these sections, already partially indicated by Gray 

 in the " Hand List " and by Dr. Butler in his valuable work, I studied 

 our collections in the Indian Museum with a view to discovering an 

 external one which should be correlated with the peculiaiities of 

 plumage and disposition so long familiar to fanciers. This I have found, 

 I think, in the prolongation of the culmen on to the forehead, which 

 obtains in Weavers and Whydahs to a far greater extent thnn in the 

 Mannikins, Waxbills, and Grassfinches. I should therefore diagnose 

 the two groups as follows : — 



A. Posterior end of the culmen produced back upon the forehead, 

 so that the length from its hinder end to a point midway between 

 the nostrils exceeds the breadth of the bill at this point, and a 

 line drawn between the nostrils forms the base of an isosceles 

 triangle Weavers and Whydahs — Floceinas. 



This group avernges much larger than the others, some of its members 

 being ms large as a Thrush, and many as big as Sparrows ; the upper 

 plumage is generally striated like a Lark's in females and males out of 

 breeding-plumage : the male as a rule undergoes a marked change of 

 plumage at the breeding-season : the note is loud and harsh, and the 

 disposition, although the birds are social in habit, savage and quarrel- 

 some, little affection being manifested even between the sexes. The 

 Whydahs cannot be separated from the true Weavers, as there is a 

 complete gradation between the two groups.* 



B. Posterior end of the culmen only slightly invading the fore- 

 head, so that the length from its hinder end to a point between 

 the no.strils is less than the bieadth of the bill there, and 

 a line drawn between these forms the base of an approxi- 

 mntely equilateral triangle. Munias, Waxbills, and Grass- 

 finches S}>ermestinse. 



The birds of this group are all small, none equalling a common 

 sparrow in size, though the biggest, the well-known Java Sparrow 

 [Miinia oryzivora) is nearly as laige, and far bigger than many Ploceinas ; 

 but few approach this bird in stature, and some are among the most 

 minute of Passerine birds. They never display a lark-like striated 

 plumage, nor does the plnmnge of the male undergo a change, except in 

 the Avadavats {Sporseijinthus amandava and S. Jiavidiventris). Their 

 notes are low and often pleasant, and their disposition generally 



* Through Penthetria, Penthetriop6is, and Urohrachya on the one hand, Vid^ia 

 and Hypochera on the other. 



