The Descent of Man

with white and edged with golden yellow.
When he courts the female, he sways his body
from side to side, and quickly turns his slightly
expanded wings first to one side, then to the
other, with a golden flashing effect. Mr. Weir
informs me that no other British finch turns
thus from side to side during his courtship, not
even the closely- allied male siskin, for he
would not thus add to his beauty.
Most of the British Buntings are plain coloured
birds; but in the spring the feathers on the head
of the male reed-bunting (Emberiza schoeniculus)
acquire a fine black colour by the abrasion
of the dusky tips; and these are erected during
the act of courtship. Mr. Weir has kept two species
of Amadina from Australia: the A. castanotis
is a very small and chastely coloured finch,
with a dark tail, white rump, and jet-black upper
tail- coverts, each of the latter being marked
with three large conspicuous oval spots of white.
(91. For the description of these birds, see