Loxia Malacca, LINNÆUS; Le Jacobin, BUFFON; Der Malackische
Kernbeisser, BECHSTEIN.
This bird is the size of the greenfinch, and four inches and a half in
length, of which the tail measures one and a half. The beak thick, five
lines in length, and bluish grey; the feet the same colour. The head,
neck, a stripe, which extends up the belly to the vent, and the thighs,
are black; the back, wings and tail, pale chestnut.
The following is mentioned as a _variety_.
The Chinese Grosbeak (_Brisson's Ornithology_, III., _page_ 235, _No._
7), with the head, throat, and front of the neck black, the upper part
of the body red brown or chestnut, the wings and tail similar to the one
above.
I have seen this bird in a room several times, and have always regarded
it as a male, on account of its song, and because, after moulting, its
plumage returned unaltered, not becoming either white on the breast or
black at the vent.
Edwards, who has represented it in his 355th plate, has added a female,
which he kept in the same cage, and which was improved by its companion.
The upper part of its body was grey brown, the sides of the head and
under part of the body pinkish, or rather blush colour, the wing and
tail feathers blackish, the feet flesh-colour.
The blackness of the wings and tail makes me suspect that this female
belongs to another species; its attachment and familiarity prove
nothing. We know, in fact, that nearly all granivorous birds hold
communion together, and mutually caress each other with the bill.
OBSERVATIONS.--The Malacca Finch comes from the East Indies: it is
very gentle, confiding, and lively. Its voice is strong; its cry,
"_tziapp_," pronounced in a loud clear tone. Though its song is
somewhat nasal and rather noisy, it is not disagreeable.
Its food, when in confinement, is hemp and canary seed, which I have
known preserve it for a long time in good health.