MUNIA STRIATA. 



(THE WHITE-BACKED MUNIA. 



Loxia striata, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 306 ; Walden, Ibis, 1874, p. 144. 



Amadina striata, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1844, xiii. p. 349 ; Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 126 (1852) ; 

 Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiii. p. 258. 



Munia striata, Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 117 (1849) ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. ii. p. 356 (1863) ; 

 Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 464 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, ii. p. 448 (1874) ; Fairbank, 

 Str. Feath. 1876, p. 260 ; Ball, ibid. 1878, vii. p. 222. 



Striated Grosbeak, Latham ; The Striated Munia, Striated Finch of some ; Striped Paddy- 

 bird, Europeans in Ceylon, also Ortolan. Shakari munia, Bengal. (Blyth). 



We-kurulla, Sinhalese ; Tinna kuruvi, Ceylonese Tamils; Pastro de Neli, Portuguese in Ceylon. 



Adult male and female. Length 4-5 to 4'7 inches ; wing 2-05 to 2"15 ; tail 1'6 to 1*8, centre feathers 0-4 longer than 

 the lateral pair ; tarsus 0-5 ; middle toe and claw 0-0 to 0-G3 ; bill to gape 0*4 to U-45, height at nostril 0-33. 

 Females are the smaller of the sexes. 



Iris brown or reddish brown in some ; bill and upper mandible blackish leaden, lower mandible bluish, with dark tip ; 

 legs and feet bluish or dusky leaden. 



Forehead, face, fore neck, and chest dull black", paling gradually at the crown into the sepia-brown of the hind neck, 

 back, and scapulars ; upper tail-coverts darker brown than the back ; feathers of the crown, hind neck, back, 

 scapulars, secondary wing-coverts, and upper tail-coverts with whitish shafts ; wings blackish brown, the quills 

 with inner basal edges of rufescent fawn ; lower back and rump forming a band of less than J an inch in width, 

 white, some of the feathers generally with brownish tippings or cross marks ; tail brownish black ; under surface 

 with the flanks, from the chest to the vent, unmarked white ; lower flank-feathers covering the thighs sepia- 

 brown, with whitish shafts ; under tail-coverts brownish black, with rusty tips ; thighs dark brown; under wing- 

 coverts pale fawn-colour. 



Some examples have not the black chest clearly defined against the white breast, the feathers at the top of the latter 

 being patched with blackish : again, others are much paler brown above ; these are probably birds iu the first stage 

 of the adult dress. 



Voting? An example shot in July (Galle) has the wing 2-0 ; bill blackish ; legs and feet lilac-grey. 

 Head and occiput dark brown, changing into brownish rufous on the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts; wings and tail 

 brown, edged with rufous-brown ; beneath rufescent white, strongly tinged with rufous on the chest. 



X.li. This is only the presumed young of this species. I shot the specimen out of a flock of three ; from its smaller 

 size and more diminutive bill than those of the last species I take it to be M. striata. I am not sure of it, as 

 subsequently I omitted to place the matter beyond doubt, and I have not met with a description of the young in 

 any Indian work. I bring this subject especially to the notice of my readers, as young birds must be common 

 enough. 



06s. A " Malabar " specimen in my collection corresponds well with dark examples from Ceylon. Wing 2-05 inches ; 



tail 1-8. 

 There are several remarkably closely allied Asiatic species to the present, which form a " well-defined subgroup 



of the genus Mania" (Walden). Lord Tweeddale, iu his valuable paper on an Andaman collection (Ibis, 1*74, 



p. 144), gives the following useful diagnosis of these Munias : — 



•' Uropygium white. — M. striata. Dorsal plumage pale-shafted ; abdominal region and flanks pure white. 



" M. acuticauda, Hodgson. Abdominal plumage white, faintly marked with pale brown ; middle rectrices elongated. 



•■ M.fumigata, Walden (Andamans). Dorsal plumage unstriated." 



(To these may be added M. semistriata, Hume, Str. Feath. 1S74, p. 257 (Nicobars) : smaller than the last, with propor- 

 tionately longer tail, a faint trace of strife on the back, feathers of the breast narrowly margined with pale rufous- 

 brown.) 



"Uropygium uniform with the lack. — M. leueogastra, Blyth (Malacca). Dorsal plumage pale-shafted; flanks dark 

 brown ; middle rectrices lustrous yellow. 



