Page:The Common Birds of Bombay.djvu/155

Rh the light of the sun. In caged birds it becomes brick-red. In winter the crimson feathers are mostly doffed and both sexes dress alike.

There is another lovely Amadavat, which Jerdon calls the Green Waxbill (Estrelda formosa). It is light green above, pale yellow beneath, and prettily banded on the sides. This is certainly not a Bombay bird, though common enough in cages, together with some beautiful foreign species, which need not be mentioned here.

Of the Munias there are at least two species which seem to be really resident in Bombay. The commonest is Jerdon's White-backed Munia (Munia striata) a black-and-white bird with a bluish beak. The "small' of its back and its underparts, from the breast downwards, are white. All the rest is very dark brown, almost black in parts. Then there is the Spotted Munia (M. undulata or punctulata), of a rich brown colour, passing into chestnut on the face and throat. The underparts are white, or greyish, with zebra stripes on the side. Young birds are of a dull, earthy-brown colour. Two other species may be described here, because they belong to our Presidency and are common in cages. One is the Black-headed Munia (M. malacca) a handsome bird, which has its home in Canara and Malabar. Its head, throat, and breast are glossy black, and its back, wings, and tail bright chestnut. Below the breast it is white. The other is the Plain Brown Munia (M. malabarica), which may be found wild in Bombay, for it is everywhere, and in the Deccan is one of the commonest of small birds, making its silly nest in every wayside bush for schoolboys and crows to do what they like