Java sparrow

American  

noun

1. a finchlike weaverbird, Padda oryzivora, of southeastern Asia, having gray plumage tinged with pink on the belly, often kept as a cage bird.

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Java sparrow British  

noun

1. a small grey-and-pink finchlike Indonesian weaverbird, Padda oryzivora: a popular cage bird

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Etymology

Origin of Java sparrow

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

Lund’s allegorical novel imagines a boy with a Java sparrow living in his rib cage.

From Washington Post • Feb. 1, 2022

"Yes, she made me think of my little Java sparrow, with pale fawn-colored feathers, and little gleams of violet on the neck," responded Flora.

From A Romance of the Republic by Child, Lydia Maria Francis

Or it may be streaked with bright paint and passed on some unwary person for a Java sparrow or a "blood-heart."

From Nature Near London by Jefferies, Richard

Padd′y-bird, the Java sparrow or rice-bird; Padd′y-field, a field where rice is grown.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various

On the opposite side of the room, in a corner, was a very large cage, in the sole occupancy of a solitary Java sparrow.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, August 28, 1841 by Various