Rihani

A foundation strain of the Nawa'em, and one of those crossed into other strains of the house to produce new ones. Much disputed: keepers differ over its neck colour, over whether its forehead is broad and high or fine and swept back, over whether beak and nails are black or dark-shaded, over whether a small feather between the toes is a merit or a fault, and over the colour of its eyelids. Short, fine, pointed mekneer beak, dipped in the middle when seen from the side; body lustrous black shot with a faint green that deepens at the neck and shows plainly in sunlight, with a bronze neck tending to white split by a lengthwise dark green line. Unlike most Ghuzar its wing is about 2 cm longer than its tail. Its stance is unmistakable: it stands on the tips of its toes with bent hocks and its body carried back, so the feet appear almost beneath the crop and two-thirds of the bird rests toward the ground — it looks seated rather than standing.