amadavat

[Occurs in this form in several of the Hindoo languages.] An Indian bird, the Estrelda am and ava. Male: Bill, carmine-coloured; upper parts, brownish-grey before, red behind; lower, whitish, with dashes of red and black; wings dark, covered, as are the sides and posterior parts of the back, with white spots. The female is le highly coloured. A small bird, about five inches 175 long, occurring in the Indian Archipelago. [AMADINA, ESTRELDA.] "The Bengali baboos make the pretty little males of the amadavat ( Estrelda am and ava ) fight together." -Darwin: Descent of Man , pt. ii, ch. xiii.