46 Godfrey Davis—Breeding the Striated Finch or White-hacked Munia


seed jar. The three eggs did not hatch till the next day but thereafter

none of the young was thrown from the nest. The eggs were white,

like the eggs of Bengalese, but more pointed.


I did not attempt to use the Bengalese as foster-parents because

no parents could have been more attentive than the Munias, but un¬

fortunately by the end of September seeding grass was difficult to find;

my crop of Indian millet had been destroyed and I was forced to rely

on soaked seed. To this I attributed the slow growth of the Munias

and Bengalese, because according to my calculation neither the

Bengalese nor the Munias left the nest till thirty days after hatching.

When they did so, one Bengalese was a very feeble little thing ; one

other was small; two others only were strong and well developed,

and the little White-backed Munia, though exceedingly lively and

alert, had no feathers on its head and neck. It looked like a miniature

vulture. One of my servants from Goa, however, assured me that

young Munias often left the nest in this state; he said he had seen many

of them wild, as they are common in the rice-growing tracts of Goa

whence he comes and, indeed, the flight feathers of the little Munia

were very well developed, his tail was quite perceptible, his little legs

were strong, only his head and neck were bare. I know some favour

soaked seed ; others say it is nasty, smelly stuff. In the morning I

used to fill a cup half-full of seed, Indian millet, and fill the cup with

water ; in the evening I used to pour off the foul water and fill with

fresh water and pour out and refill with water again six or seven times,

thus thoroughly washing the seed ; this I, or rather my servant, used

to do again on the morning and evening of the second day, and on the

morning of the third day the seed was just sprouting and clean. It

was then poured out of the cup and dried in a bit of muslin. It was

a lot of trouble and did not seem to me to take the place of half-ripe

growing seed.


Two of the young Munias died when they were just feathering ;

whether it was the soaked seed or that I had cramped the nest by

placing too much dry grass inside I do not know. I thought I must

do something to change the diet. Two young Munias had died and the

growth of the others and of the young Bengalese appeared very slow.

Vitamins, that blessed word, was what they probably wanted, and



