CANARIES AND OTHER CAGE-BIRD FRIENDS 



with light gray 

 mixed in the back, 

 is found com- 

 monly. Some cap- 

 tive birds develop 

 black cheeks and 

 lose the pinkish 

 wash on the under 

 surface. IVIale and 

 female are alike, 

 both in size and in 

 markings, so that 

 pairs are known 

 only when breed- 

 ing. These birds 

 do not change in 

 color with the sea- 

 sons. 



Java sparrows 

 are found wild in 

 the Malay States, 

 Sumatra, Borneo, 

 Java, and Bali, as 

 well as on some 

 other islands in 

 that region. They 

 have been intro- 

 duced and estab- 

 lished in recent 

 years in other sec- 

 tions, as in the 

 coastlands of east- 

 ern Africa and ad- 

 jacent islands, and 

 elsewhere. Ac- 

 cording to some, 

 the bird may have 

 been native origi- 

 nally in Java and 

 Bali and been 

 brought from there 

 into the other sec- 

 tions where it is 

 now found wild. 



The Java spar- 

 row has long been 

 known in captivity 

 in Europe. Sir 

 Hans Sloane had 

 one in 1740, and I 



have seen them represented in paintings by 

 Dutch artists of the same period. 



In its native home the Java sparrow is 

 called the "ricebird," and its large flocks are 

 very destructive to rice before the harvest. 

 To protect their fields natives erect little huts, 

 elevated on posts, in which a guard may sit. 

 Strings hung with rags, tin-can rattles, or 

 wooden clappers lead out from this central 

 place over the fields. As the flocks of rice- 

 birds alight, the guard pulls the proper line 

 and sets in motion the pendants, whereupon 

 the rattling above the birds frightens them 

 away. 



Drawing b\' Hashime Mura>arna 

 A WEAVER BIRD DISPLAYS ITS LOOPS AND KNOTS 



A sketch by a Geographic staff artist shows the craftsmanship with grass and 

 pliant twigs which has given the weaver family its name. A hve red-billed 

 weaver in the National Zoological Park in Washington, D. C, "posed" for the 

 drawing. In decorating their cages they sometimes undo their work and start 

 over again until finally satisfied (Color Plate \' and page 800). 



Whydah 



Among all the weaver finches the most curi- 

 ous in plumage are the whydahs, in which the 

 tail of the male is greatly elongated (Plate \"). 



The name of this group is unusual and is 

 subject to two interpretations. The ordinary 

 spelling is that just given, and the name is said 

 to come from that of the coast town of Ouidah 

 in Dahomey, French West Africa. The Por- 

 tuguese traders, however, called the birds "wid- 

 ows" from their long, dark trains, and they are 

 known today as "veuve" in French, and are 

 often called "widows" or "widow birds" in 

 English. 



