478 NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



FAMILY— PLOCEID^ : WEAVERS. 

 Sub -FAMILY — V1DUIN.4;. 



392. — Staganopleura ci;ttata, Shaw. — (257) 

 SPOTTED-SIDED FINCH. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. iii., pi. 86. 



Rejerenct. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xiii., p. 292. 



I'rcvioui Descriptions of E^gs. — Gould : Birds of Australia (1848) ; 



also Handbook, vol. i., p. 418 (1865) ; North : Austn. Mus. 



Cat., p. 164 (1889). 



Gtoyrapliicul Dixtrihutinn. — South Queensland, New South Wales, 

 Victoria and South Australia. 



Nest. — Bottle-shaped, large ; composed of wire-like and other grasses, 

 and lined inside with fine grass. Usually placed in a bush or among 

 the thick branchlets of a small tree or sapling. Dimensions, 11 inches 

 long ; circumference, 20 inches. 



E(jg!i. — Clutch, four to seven, usually five ; extremity lengthened in 

 form ; texture of shell fine ; surface sUghtly glossy ; colour, pure-white. 

 Dimensions in inches; (1) '82 x -5, (2) -82 x -5, (3) -8 x -52. The eggs 

 of this species are the largest known of those of Australian finches. 



Ohxervatiiinx. — The Spotted-sided Finch, or Diamond Sparrow of th'^ 

 early colonists, is an exceedingly fine and showy creatiu^e, wearing 

 generally a brownish coat with a rump of shining scarlet.* Tliroat and 

 abdomen are pure wliite, with a conspicuous black band on the chest; 

 the flanks are also black, largely spotted with white, which at once 

 suggest the appropriate name. Spotted-sided Finch. Blood-red bill — 

 the usual conical shape — with eyes to match, and feet purplish-brown, 

 complete a very handsome figure, although only 4?, inches long. 



I learn chiefly from that enthusiastic bird fancier, Mr. James 

 Cooper, that in South Australia tlie Spotted-sided Finch commences to 

 lay about the same time as the Red-browed Finch, but ceases about the 

 early part of January. In choosing a situation for its nest the Spotted- 

 sided Finch shows a preference for the prickly acacias (A. (u-mntu), and 

 will breed in the same locality with the Chestnitt-eared Finch ; fiirther, 

 if hard pushed, it will successfully " jump that bird's nest. In this 

 species the same nest is used all the season, but the structure is 

 extended or added to in front, as tlie young fill up the rear portion 

 with dirt. The young possess, like most Finches, the black bill imtil 

 three months old, when it becomes red. The Spotted-sided Finch is a 



• There is a singular specimen in the .Australian Museum with the upper tail 

 coverts yellow instcid of scarlet. 



