S>:
I »:
' l l
I ¿1 I
I i
U j i
j i M i i i i
' ,' '' I
'I'J .
• i; r:' i! H
i:
I' •)
'• i
111 :
254 Foreign Finches in Captivity.
White-lieacled Munia, or so called Maja-Fiucli, appears to be one of the earliest
and best kno«'n species of this insular group of Asiatic Weaver-birds, and from a
very remote period it has been brought to Europe in great numbers b}- trading
and other vessels which touch annually at man)' of the islands in the Straits of
Malacca, or Malayan Peninsular, where this bird abounds, especially in those
islands where rice and smaller cereals are cultivated to any great extent.
This bird, like all its congeners, is exclusively a dry seed eater, and congregates
in enormous flocks on the paddy-fields when the seed is ripe, and after
the harvest season, when the wild seeds ha\'e attained maturit}-, it finds subsistence
until the following harvest. It is at this period of its existence (and after the
breeding season) that it is procured in vast numbers and shipped to various parts
of the globe; the greater number come to Europe, although the natives retain
them as cage pets among nmny others of the same famil}-.
" Lieut. H. R. Kelham tells us:—"This little White-headed Aliinia is very
common throughout the west of the peninsula, including the islands of Penang
and Singapore. When the grain is ripe it is to be seen in countless numbers in
the paddy-fields. On being disturbed, it rises with a feeble, twittering cr)-, the
flocks wdiirling and twittering over the top of the padd}-, like clouds of dust on a
road when the wind is blowing. It is commonly known in the Straits as the
'cigar bird'—a capital name; for when flj'ing, its white head, brown body, and
small size give it very much the appearance of a cigar with the white ash on it."
Reichenbach remarks in his ' Sing^-ogel,' published in 1861, that "these birds
have often been brought to us in modern times from East and South India, more
especially from Sumatra and Borneo. They are great fa^•ourites, more for their
gentleness and pretty manners than for their weak voice. I received lately from
Sumatra four little pairs with their nests and eggs, and a fifth nest was alread3'
to be found in Thienemanii's collection. The long melon-shaped nest is built
between reeds and sedges; it has an oval opening of 5 cents, in diameter. It is
composed of grasses of the millet species, loosely and untidily woven together
and wound round outside with a quantity of narrow and broad blades of grass,
and thickly lined again inside with very fine silky-haired grasses twined together.
The two or three eggs are dull white."
My own opinion, based upon two or three pairs which I have had from time
to time, is that—among snch clumsy awkward-looking birds as the typical
Mannikins (by which I more particularly mean the species of the genus Munia)
the White-headed birds are about the least interesting; but as regards their longevity,
let them once become thoroughly acclimatized and there is no knowing
The White-headed Mannikin. 255
how mail}- years they may live ; provided that their owner is on the look out to
release tlieui and cut their curl)' claws, whenever they chance to get hung np in
the wire of the aviary : for it is one of the peculiarities of the species of Munia,
excepting examples of M. oryzivora (which ought to be separated from the genus,
in my opinion), that their claws seem to grow in captivity far more rapidly than
they can wear them down ; so that the birds are often found hanging by them to
the wire-netting of an aviary and vainly struggling to release themselves.
The male of my last pair of Munia maja died at the age of (at least) se^•enteen
years, and the hen a year later; they had been in the possession of the
gentleman who sold them to me for ten years, before I bought them, and the
hen died seven years later: whether the pair was more than a 3-ear old \\'hen
purchased, we do not know; but both birds were in adult plumage.
As regards breeding in captivity, possibly a single pair in a large flight-cage
would do so without trouble ; even in a large aviary with man}- other birds they
readily build in a cigar-box and lay, but my hens never succeeded in hatching
any of their eggs ; my last pair on one occasion exchanged partners with a pair
of Black-heads and all four busied themselves in the construction of a single nest;
but I think they interfered with one another, for the eggs got kicked down
among the material forming the sides of the nest and there I found them, dried
up, when I cleaned out the box a month or so later.
"Dr. Russ says :—" The pairs which existed in my Bird-room inhabited a very
thick bush o^'er the stove, at every sound whisked immediately into their lurking
place, were often not to be seen throughout the da}- and could only be traced by
their monosyllabic whistled call-notes. At the same time however they by no
means showed themseh-es to be tempestnousl)' wild. Gradually I discovered that
they zealously carried stuff into the reed and grass-thicket on the stove, yet at all
times only nested in a desultory manner. This also took place so secretly, that
it invariably ^\•as discontinued, if I or an}- other person was present in the Birdroom,
and I was only able to observe it, if I remained there motionless for a
considerable time. At this time Alexander von Honieyer visited me, ^vhose
practised glance at the beha^•iour of the birds at once discovered that they were
nesting up above there. Some days later I investigated and indeed found a nest
standing in the belt of reeds, -which was formed of coarse nesting materials
careless!}- thro^\-n together. The foundation consisted of thick grass-stalks, strips
of paper, moss and the like dragged together, and upon it a very roomy dome of
sonie\\'liat more flexible stalks formed with a clums}- wide-open entrance which led
almost from above do^\-nwards and lined internally almost entirel}- with tufts of
' (
i -i