112 



BULLETIN 326, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



contents. These are nearly always shelled before swallowing and in the giz- 

 zard are soon ground up and digested. In eating these grass seeds the birds 

 can be accused of no damage, though formerly they were said to injure rice 

 when it was still soft. For their ordinary food, however, they prefer smaller 

 seeds than rice, and as rice is little cultivated now because of the ravages of 

 the changa this weaver finch seems to be a neutral species, though it destroys 

 numbers of crab grass seeds. At times it may feed on seeds desired for plant- 

 ing, and then should be discouraged. A list of seeds eaten follows : 



Crab grass (Syntherisma sanguinalis) _ 5 



Ichnanthus (Ichnanthus pallens) 6 



Egyptian grass (Dactyloctenium cegyp- 



ticum) 3 



Smut grass (Spore-bolus indicus) 6 



Panic grass (Panicum sp.) 



Malojillo (Panicum fasciculatum) _. 



Paspalum (Paspalum sp.) 



Paspalum (Paspalum millegrama) _. 

 Fimbristylis (Fimbristylis sp.) 



2 



17 

 3 



20 

 1 



SCARLET-CHEEKED WEAVER FINCH. 



Veteraxo, Bengali. Goerion. 



Amandava melpoda (Vieillot). 



Another African species that has been introduced and naturalized in Porto 

 Rico is the scarlet-cheeked weaver finch. Gundlach (1878, p. 206) found them 

 abundant in 1874, and is the first to mention them. They are now found in the 

 coastal regions from Mayag'uez to Yauco, which is practically the range given by 

 Gundlach 35 years ago, except that he recorded them north to Ahasco. They 

 were seen at Yauco May 16 to 28; Cabo Rojo, August 24 to 31; and at 

 Mayag'iiez, June 6. The northern half of their range is very humid, while at 

 Yauco and below Cabo Rojo it is equally dry. These birds frequent marshy 

 growths and dense thorny thickets of rallo ( Yacliellia sp. ) , an acacia, and cane 

 fields. They are spirited little birds with quick, nervous movements and 

 when alarmed call continually. On the wing the long tail and short wings 

 give them a quick, tilting flight, and they seldom fly far. When feeding they 

 spread out somewhat, but when excited all bunch up, peering through the 

 limbs, and then move away, keeping well under cover. In the middle of the 

 day they feed on the ground, in patches of shade under bashes. In the cane 

 fields they flush with quick calls, fly a few yards, and then drop back out of 

 sight. 



The ordinary call note is a low tsee tsee tsee and a low chattering call. Near 

 Cabo Rojo, August 30, one female was seen feeding nearly grown young, 

 regurgitating softened grass seeds from, her throat to give to them. Bowdish 

 (1902-3, p. 13) notes breeding birds taken May 23 and 30, presumably from 

 Mayaguez. 



Food. — In 19 stomachs of this odd exotic, collected at Yauco in May and 

 Cabo Rojo in August, I found vegetable food only, with small percentages of 

 sand ac an aid in digestion. Grass seeds of several species furnished the bulk 

 of the food and were nearly always neatly shelled. A few amaranth seeds were 

 found, and these were swallowed entire, the smooth hard surface of the seed 

 not permitting them to be readily split open, though the three-sided seeds of a 

 sedge ( Care® sp. ) were neatly divested of their covering. Two immature birds 

 had swallowed large quantities of grass seeds without hulling them, and oc- 

 casionally adults ate small seeds in this condition. 



These weaver finches destroy small numbers of seeds of noxious weeds, 

 though they prefer panic grass, but as they take no insects they 3i*e of little 

 economic importance. 



The following list shows the seeds fed upon : 



Crab grass (Syntherisma sanguinalis) . 



Smut grass (Sporobolus indicus) 



Ichnanthus (Ichnanthus pallens) 



Malojillo (Panicum fasciculatum) 



Paspalum (Paspalum millegrama) 5 



Sedge (Carex sp.) 1 



Amaranth (Amaranthus sp.) 5 



