ploceid;e. 



From Bellerive, Tasmania, Dr. L. Holden writes me: — " Zonaginthiis Ixlliis is (sLirly common, 

 but perhaps is being ousted by the introduced House Sparrow and the Goldfinch. It is more 

 numerous in the wet north-west of the island than in the dry south-east. I have found it 

 l)reeding in September and October, laying long narrow white eggs, pink before they are emptied. 

 The nest is in shrubs, an untidy lump of dry grass, globular, with an entrance like a tunnel, and 

 lined inside with feathers. The eggs are four or five in number. The Fire-tailed Finch is 

 sometimes trapped by means of a call-bird decoy." 



Mr. E. D. Atkinson, of W'aratah, sends me the following note: — " A nest of Zonceginthus 

 hcllus, found by me on the old Strahan-Queenstown road, west coast of Tasmania, was composed 

 of coarse grasses lined with wool, and contained four hard set eggs. The tunnel-like entrance 

 to the nest measured quite ten inches long by about two inches across, and was curved in shape 

 something like a sickle. But for the fluttering of the bird's wings as she escaped from this queer 

 nest, I would probably have passed it by, for though they are generally large for the size of the 

 bird, and conspicuously placed, this one was well concealed in a thick bush, about six feet from 

 the ground. Another I found near Waratah, on 17th January, 1903, contained three eggs 

 slightly incubated, which shows that three made the full complement. I found another nest 

 near Waratah, in a " cutting rush," only about three feet up, and in this instance the number of 

 eggs was only two, but, as they were perfectly fresh, more would probably have been laid. This 

 species is not so often met with here as on the coast (Waratah being 2000 feet above sea level), 

 where it is fairly common. I remember on one occasion seeing a Fire-tailed Finch fly up on to a 

 telegraph wire with a long straw, evidently en route to its nest, but as soon as I was observed 

 beneath the straw was dropped and the bird flew quietly away." 



A nest in the Australian INIuseum collection, taken by Mr. J. A. Thorpe at Hornsby on the 

 9th November, 1886, is globular in form with a long narrow neck-like entrance, and is formed 

 externally of long pieces of coarse dried grasses, and is lined inside with finer grasses. The 

 nest proper measures externally seven inches in diameter, and the neck-like entrance ten inches 

 in length by one inch and a half across the entrance. It was built in a bushy tree ten feet from 

 the ground, and contained five fresh eggs, the birds being secured at the same time. Tea-trees 

 and low thick bushes are also resorted to as nesting sites by this species. Two nests found by 

 Mr. E. D. x\tkinson at Table Cape, North-west Coast of Tasmania, on the 15th November, 

 i8gi, were built of coarse grasses and lined at the bottom of the domed portion with small black 

 feathers. One was built in a prickly Acacia bush, and contained five slightly incubated eggs ; 

 the other was built in a tea-tree, and had the usual complement, five fresh eggs. 



The eggs are usually five in number for a sitting, of a lengthened ellipse or elongate oval in 

 form, pure white, the shell being close-grained, smooth and lustreless. A set of five measures : — 

 Length (A) 073 x 0-48 inches ; (0)0-72 x 0-47 inches; (C) 071 x 0-48 inches ; (D) 07 x 

 0-49 inches; (E) 071 x 0-49 inches. A set of five taken by Mr. E. D. Atkinson at Table Cape, 

 on the north-west coast of Tasmania, on the 15th November, i.Syi, measures: — Length (A) 075 

 X 0-5 inches; (B) 072 x 0-5 inches ; (C) 07 x 0-5 inches; (D) 07 x 0-5 inches; (E) 071 x 

 o'52 inches. 



Young birds have the bill black, and are browner above and below than the adults, the 

 blackish cross lines narrower and more indistinct, forehead and crown of the head brown, and 

 the blackish lores feathers around the eye and narrow frontal band, far less pronounced. \\'ing 

 measurement the same as that of the adult, 2-25 inches. 



September and the three following months constitutes the normal breeding season of this 

 species. 



