ZON-EGINTHUS. 



271 



Zonaeginthus bellus. 



FIRE-TAILED FINCH. 

 Loxia hella, Lath., Ind. Orn., Suppl., p. xlvi. (1801). 

 Estrelda bella, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. III., pi. 78 (1848). 



Zonmgintlms bellus, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 406 (1865); Sharpe, Oat. Bds. Brit. 

 Mus., Vol. XIII., p. 293 (1890). 



Adult male General colour above broion slightly tinged with olive, and having numerous blackish 



cross-lines, Jiner and less distinct on the head, broader and more conspicuous on the lower back; wings 

 like the back, inner webs of quills blackish, the transverse barrings almost obsolete on the outer webs of 

 the primaries; rump and upper tail-coverts crimson; lateral tail-feathers brown with blackish cross- 

 bars, the central ones blackish and margined on their basal portion tvith dull crinson; lores, a narrow 

 frontal line and feathers around the eye black; all the under surface greyish-ivhite crossed with narrow 

 black lines, which are broader and the interspaces of a clearer white on the lower sides of the breast and 

 the abdomen; centre of the abdomen and under tail-coverts dull black. Total length in the flesh 4-6 

 inches; wing 2-2o, tail IS, bill O-^o, tarsus 0-65. 



Adult female Resembles the adult male but the centre of the abdomen is barred like the 



remainder of the tender surface, not black. 



Bistribution^^ew South Wales, \'ictoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and some of the 

 larger islands of Bass Strait. 



/T^HE type of the present species was described by Latham, in his " Index Ornithologicus," 

 L from a single specimen obtained in New South Wales, and is founded on the " Black- 



lined Grosbeak '" of his " General Synopsis of Birds.'"'- Referring to the present species in the 

 " Transactions of the Linnean Society," t Messrs. Mgors and Horsfield remark :— " Some 

 specimens in the collection were brought by Mr. Brown from Port Jackson, where he obtained 

 them in September, 1803." .\lthough still found here it is by far the rarest species of Finch 

 frequenting the neighbourhood of Sydney. It generally inhabits scrub-lined creeks and swampy 

 localities, and is occasionally met with about the upper parts of Middle Harbour and Hornsby ; 

 in the latter locality Mr. J. A. Thorpe and myself both procured specimens, and the former also 

 obtained its nest and eggs. Farther afield Mr. R. Grant found it breeding at Helensburgh ; 

 also inland at Lithgow, on the Blue ^Mountains, 3009 feet above sea level. It is also sparingly 

 distributed throughout the coastal districts of Victoria and the south-eastern portion of South 

 Australia, two specimens from Mt. Compass being received for examination from the Trustees 

 of the South Australian Museum, Adelaide. It is common on some of the larger islands of 

 Bass Strait, and Tasmania is its stronghold. While the Family Ploceida: is well represented 

 on the Australian Continent, it is remarkable that the Fire-tailed Finch is its only representative 

 in Tasmania. I met with it in the scrub at The Springs on Mount Wellington, near Hobart, 

 and at New Norfolk, on the banks of the Derwent River. Mr. Malcolm Harrison and Mr. E. 

 D. .\tkinson inform me that it is very common, and breeds freely, at Table Cape in the north- 

 western portion of the island. 



Gen. Syn. Bds., Suppl. II.. p. 198. f Trans. Linn. Soc, Vol XV., p. 257 (1827.) 



