Order PASSERIFORMES. 
No, 98 
Family PLOCEIDM. 
MUNIA ATRICAPILLA. 
(novana.) 
THE NUN OR BLACK-HEADED FINCH. 
(Plate 73.) 
Munia Hodgson, Asiat. Research, Vol. XIX., pt. i., p. 153, 1836. Type (by subsequent designa¬ 
tion, Gray, 1841, p. 57) : Munia subroniger Hodgson =Loxia atricapilla Vieillot. 
Loxia atricapilla Vieillot, " Oiseaux Chanteurs”, p. 85, pi. 53, 1805: Les Grandes, Indes (cf. 
Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., Vol. XIII., p. 534, Sept. 13th, 1817). 
Munia atricapilla novana Mathews, Bull. Brit. Om. Club, Vol. XLIX., p. 91, April 25th, 1929 : 
Utingu, Cape York, North Queensland. 
Distribution. Southern Burma and Siam from about the latitude of Rangoon and Samkok ; 
the whole of the Malay Peninsula to Singapore (Baker). 
Adult male . Whole of the head and nape black, slightly glossed with blue and with the hidden 
bases of the feathers greyish-white ; mantle, back, scapulars and wing-coverts light chest¬ 
nut ; rump and upper tail-coverts deep shining chestnut ; primary quills dark ash with the 
outer web chestnut like the back ; tail-feathers dull chestnut, the middle pair outwardly 
margined with rich shining chestnut ; chin, throat, sides of neck, fore-neck and upper 
chest black, slightly glossed and with white bases to the feathers ; breast deep rich chestnut; 
abdomen, flanks and thighs black, tinged with chestnut ; under tail-coverts black ; under 
wing-coverts and axillaries reddish-chestnut, quills below ash-grey, margined on the inner 
web with rich buff. Iris black, bill and feet bluey-white. Total length 95 mm. : culmen 12, 
wing 54, tail 35, tarsus 16. Utingu, Cape York, collected on the 8th of August, 1912. 
The sexes are alike. 
Nest. Placed in grass or reeds in swampy places and made of coarse strips of reed and grass 
blades, lined with finer stripes, and is of the usual football shape. In this, as in many of the 
other Munia’s nests, the entrance sometimes seems to be merely a hole forced through 
the top of the nest after completion and, accordingly, difficult to find (Baker). 
Eggs. Clutch, five to seven, white ; average 17*1 mm. by 11*9. 
Breeding-season. May, June and July. 
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