T.ENIOPY(JIA. '^1 t 



eared Finches were again nesting. On nth August, 1901, two pairs of Finches were building 

 underneath a Wedge-tailed Eagle's nest, on which the Eagle was sitting ; a pair of Xevophila 

 Icucopsis had also built there. On 13th October, 1901, while looking for Chcraiiiccca leucostcrnuiu 

 nests, I saw a Chestnut-eared Finch fly out of a rabbit burrow, and on investigating the burrow 

 I could see some straw. I dug it out, and found a perfectly constructed and lined nest eighteen 

 inches from the entrance, with the hen bird sitting on five eggs. On the same morning I found 

 a Crow's (Corviis coronoides) nest in a Mulga, about fifteen feet from the ground, containing four 

 eggs, from which the bird flew on my approach. A pair of Chestnut-eared Finches were building 

 a nest under the Crow's, and partly into it. In similar situations I have found them under the 

 nests of the Little Eagle and Whistling Eagle. They nest in either the Autumn or Spring. I 

 have found nests in March, April and May in numbers, and in August, September, October and 

 November." 



Mr. G. A. Heartland also sends me the following notes :—" Chestnut-eared Finches are 

 numerous throughout Central Australia, the Northern Territory, Western and North Western 

 Australia. The members of the Horn Scientific Expedition to the West Macdonnell Ranges 

 saw them at every watering place from the time they left Oodnadatta until their return there. 

 The same may be said of the Calvert Exploring Expedition across Western and North-western 

 Australia. They were seen from Geraldton to Derby, and as we steamed past Broome in the 

 ' Australind ' several pairs, in company with a like number of Painted Finches (Emblcma picta) 

 followed the vessel for some distance, occasionally perching in the rigging. The Chestnut-eared 

 Finch is regarded by many bushmen as a good indicator of water. They are great drinkers, 

 and soon after sunrise they resort to the nearest pool or well, where they spend the day, returning 

 to their camping ground towards sunset. Whether they can scent the fluid, as some assert, is 

 perhaps doubtful, but at a lunch camp in the desert the members of the Calvert Exploring 

 Expedition were, surprised to see a flock of Chestnut-eared Finches alight on the water carts, 

 and afterwards drink from a pannikin placed for them. They generally build their nests of 

 harsh dry grass stalks, about four inches long, in all sorts of places. I have found them on the 

 ground beneath a prostrate bush, on desert gums over thirty feet from the ground, and in hollow 

 logs. At Alice Springs in 1S94 I saw a nest containing eggs on the shelf of the blacksmith's 

 shop, and the brood were hatched and reared notwithstanding that a large amount of horse- 

 shoeing was done close by. Two nests were hidden in a pile of debris left by a flood. Near the 

 Fitzroy River one bird built its nest inside a bleached bullock's skull lying on the ground. 

 Close to the camel depot near Lake Augusta, Mr. L. A. Wells found one egg of the Chestnut- 

 eared Finch in the nest of the Crested Wedge-bill. On visiting the nest day after day, I saw the 

 structure roofed over and finished, and the full complement of eggs laid. During our stay in 

 that locality a pair of these birds built their nest in our bough shade, and although the birds 

 were frequently handled by the Afghans, they stuck to their nest, and laid and hatched their 

 brood before we left. Unlike most birds, the Chestnut-eared Finch uses its nest as a sleeping 

 place. Sometimes as many as a dozen nests are seen on one bush." 



Dr. A. M. Morgan writes me: — " I have met with Taniopygia castanotis from Adelaide to as 

 far north as I have been— the Mount Gunson District. Old residents have told me that formerly 

 there were none of these birds as far south as Adelaide, so these may be the progeny of escaped 

 cage birds. They are, at any rate, common enough about Glenelg and Henley Beach, and breed 

 there freely. A set of six eggs in my collection was taken at the Grange in September, 1897, and 

 I saw a nest, with eggs in it, at the golf links at Glenelg about the end of December, 1903 ; it 

 was built in a dead and dried-up thistle. From Laura northwards they are the commonest 

 Finch, being present in flocks wherever there is water, and also about homesteads. They 

 usually breed in companies, and I have seen ten nests in one prickly Acacia bush near Laura. 

 The thatch of outhouses and brush fences are favourite nesting places. They lay from five to 



