G R E E N AMADTJVADB WSBILL.S.?.
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T H E GREEN AMADUVADE.
Stictospiza formosa, I^ATii.
j ^ A T H A M calls tins the "Lovely Finch," but Jerdon speaks of it as the "Green
Waxbill : the first name is applicable, bnt too vagne ; the second is far
more appropriate, bnt must, I fear, give way to the better kno^vn dealers' name
Tlie Green Amaduvade inhabits Central India.
The male bird above is olive green ; the flight featliers, excepting the inner
secondaries,, dark brown; upper tail-coverts yellower green; tail feathers blackcheeks,
throat and under surface of body bright yellow, gradually becoming deeper
m tint on the abdomen and under tail-coverts; sides of body regnlarl)- barred with
white on a black ground; under wing-coverts creaniv whitish, edge of win-^s
yellow; flight feathers below greyish. Length 4,'= inches. Beak deep waxy red
legs greyish flesh-coloured, iris pale brown.
The hen is duller than the cock, the upper parts greyer, the under parts
much whiter ; the sides would be better described as barred with smokv olive on
a white ground (than white on black), the white bars being wider than the blackish
olivaceous ones. Length 4 inches.
Two pairs of this very beautiful little Waxbill .vere given to me b^• the Hon
\Valter de Rothschild in about the year 1890: in December, 1891, one of the hens
built a nest in a box (of the eigar-box pattern) in the Waxbill aviary, laid four
eggs and began to .sit steadily; a Parson-finch, however, took it into his head to
help her to incubate them and so frequentl.y turned her out of the nest that after
a day or two, she deserted it. During the spring of 1892 three of these Wa'xbills
died lea^.ng me with only one cock bird ; but during the following winter I
purchased half a dozen from a friend at a very moderate rate. I ascribed the
death of the three mentioned above, entirely to the fact tliat I had discontinued
tn use sea-sand for a time, on the score of economy; very false economy 1
Compared with other Waxbills, I should regard the Green Amaduvade as
decKlcdly hardy; it never seems to have anything the matter with it; even those
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