4^2 NESTS A.VD EGGS OF AUSTRAL! Ah' lllKDS. 



soiiLlicru form by its smaller size, wings and majQtlc more yellowish 

 (golden-green), and under smiace lighter coloured, especially on the 

 throat and abdomen, wliicli arc almost white, while the scarlet brow 

 is more intense in colouring. 



Comparative dimensions of northern and southern forms are : • — 

 Total length, 3'8 inches; wing, 187 inches; tail, 1-2 inches; tarsus, 

 ■62 inch; bill, -35 inch (north); total length, 4-2 inches; wing, 2-04 

 inches; tail, 1'37 inches; tarsus, '65 inches; bill, 'SS inches (south). 



Mr. A. H. C. Zeitz, the assistant curator, first drew my attention 

 to the variation. 



After more material has been examined, and should the difference 

 be constant, I should suggest the name JJ. minor, or the Lesser Red- 

 browed Finch, for the northern bird. 



404. — Bathilda RCFicAUDA, Gould. — (254) 

 RED-FACED FINCH. 



Figure.- -iioxAd : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. lii., pi. 84. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xiii., p. 374. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Campbell : Victorian Naturalist 



(1SS6) ; Rec. Austn. Mus., vol. ii., p. 14 (1892) ; North : Trans. 



Roy. Soc, South Australia, vol. xxii., p. 142 (1898). 



Geographical Dintribution. — North-west Australia, Northern Terri- 

 tory, Queensland and New South Wales. 



.Vext. — The usual bottle-shaped structure of grasses, but generally 

 plucked green ; lined with finer gi'ass and sometimes a few feathers, 

 and placed in a low bush or in tall grass. 



Eggs. — Clutch, five ; long oval in shape ; texture of shell fine ; 

 siu-face slightly glossy ; coloiu", pure white. Dimensions in inches : 

 (1) ■7x-48, (2) •68x-48, (3) -6 x -46. 



Ohservations. — I obsei-ved the Red-faced, or, as it is sometimes 

 called the " Star " Finch, flying in flocks in company vdth its pretty 

 crimson cousin, NeocJ/mia phaeton, in Northern Queensland. Its olive- 

 brown plumage is set off with a crimson face, in addition to the red 

 coloiu-ed tail, from wliich it takes its name. Nearly all the under 

 surface is oUve-grey, each feather being marked near the tip with a 

 large spot of white ; bill scarlet ; eyes hazel inclined ; feet yellowish ; 

 total length, between 4 and 5 inches. 



The eggs of this species in my collection were taken on the 20th 

 March, 1877, in the Gulf of Carpentaria district, by Mr. T. A. Gulliver, 

 and were those described by me after my return from Queensland, 1886. 



The eggs of the Red-faced Finch must be somewhat rare in 

 collections, for it was not until six years afterwards that Mr. A. J. 



