MUÑIA GRÆNBHS 9 Sharpe'.
MUÑIA GRANDIS, Sharpe.
Large Rufous-and-black Finch.
Munia grandis, Sharpe, Journ. Linn. Soc. (Zool.) vol. xvi. p. 319 (1882).
T his large species o f Munia belong to the widely spread section o f Rufous-and-black Finches, o f which Munia
rubronigra is the best-known representative. I t would seem to be nearly allied to M. jagori o f Cabanis, a
Philippine species which has been once collected by Dr. Meyer in the island Halmahera o r Gilolo. The
present bird, however, would seem to differ by its larger size, and by having the whole o f the black abdomen
so completely joined to the black breast as to leave only a patch o f rufous on the sides o f the body.
But a single specimen o f this species was collected by Mr. Goldie in the Astrolabe Mountains. He procured
it in the Taburi district, where it was called by the natives “ Quaita.”
I give the following description from Mr. Bowdler Sharpe’s p a p e r:—
“ G eneral colour above light bay, the rump and upper tail-coverts shining straw-yellow ; least and median
coverts like the b a ck ; greater coverts darker and more ch e stn u t; primary-coverts and quills dusky brown,
externally chestnut, the innermost secondaries entirely o f the latter co lo u r; central tail-feathers straw-yellow,
dark brown along the m id d le; remainder o f tail-feathers edged with straw-yellow; entire head and neck
all round jet-black, as well as the breast and entire under surface, with the exception of a patch o f light
chestnut on the sides o f the breast and upper flanks; under wing-coverts and axillaries light reddish, the
lower series ashy ru fo u s; quills dusky brown below, ashy rufous along the edge o f the inner web. Total
length 4 inches, culmen 0*5, wing 2*2, tail 1-55, tarsus 0 ‘65.”
The two figures in the Plate represent the male bird in different positions and o f the natural size. They
have been drawn from the typical specimen in the British Museum.
[R. B. S.]