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


coloured print, and if half-ripe growing seed is available and a sufficiently

large nest-box is given, I should say these little birds could be bred

without difficulty. I have found the breeding pen I have described

quite large enough, though if I were breeding Grass Finches or

St. Helena Waxbills I think I should make the cage 40 inches long.

In Ahmedabad I grew for my St. Helena Waxbills a seed called

“ Cheena ”, which appeared to me to be yellow millet, and they preferred

it to the Indian millet I grew. Munias undoubtedly like the half-ripe

seeding heads of Indian millet, because when I gave my Munias a few

seeding heads that had sprouted in the garden, they left the half-

ripe bajri seeds at once for these. Anyhow these little White-backed

Munias made model and devoted parents ; their partial failure was

not due to them.


A word on Purple Sunbirds. We found an injured Purple Sunbird

lying on the drive in front of the bungalow. It seemed to have been

injured in the spine. It could only drag itself along. We put it in a

small cage and gave it Horlick’s and honey, and gradually it recovered

to the extent that it could stand on a perch and just fly from one

perch to another. I found one heaped teaspoonful of Horlick’s and

one level teaspoonful of brown sugar dissolved in a breakfast cup of

hot water better than the thicker mixture with honey ; at least, it

seemed better, for the stronger mixture seemed to lead to foot trouble

and after I had changed the food the foot trouble ceased. It has kept

the real yellow breast the Purple Sunbird has when wild and in eclipse

plumage, though in England I have found this yellow, which is a real

canary yellow, “ jonque ” and not “ buff ”, fade almost to grey, but

I have noticed in wild Sunbirds the yellow varies, being deepest and

brightest in colour in the rains when it is hot and damp.


I have also found that the white Indian jasmine is a very favourite

feeding flower of Sunbirds, so that Sunbirds in England could be given

the winter jasmine. I should imagine Sunbirds would also greatly

favour Honeysuckle. I have also found that Lotens, Vigors Yellow

Back, and the Purple Sunbird will eat any spider that is not too big

lor them to swallow ; and it is surprising the biggish spiders they will

seize and beat on the perch, as a Kingfisher beats a fish. Also Sunbirds

deserve their name. They are birds of the Sun and I have found my



