282 



fore neck and chest pale cinnamon, folloiced by a black band; remainder of under surface white, some 

 of the feathers on the sides of the body cinnamon; black on their apical portion, tcith a broad 

 white cross-bar near the tip; flanks and under tail-coverts black; bill, slate-colour; legs and feet grey ; 

 iris Iroum. Total length in the flesh Jf-5 inches, icing 2-1, tail 1-5, bill OSo, tarsus 0-55. 



Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male, but paler on the upper parts and on the fore neck 

 and chest. 



Distribution— Xorthevn Territory of South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, 

 Islands of Torres Strait. 



/T^HE Chestnut-breasted Finch is an inhabitant of the coastal districts of the Northern 

 JL Territory of South Australia, Queensland and Northern New South Wales : also, some 

 of the islands of Torres Strait. It is extremely abundant in the neighbourhood of Port Darwin, 

 from whence I have seen in Sydney many hundreds of birds caught by Mr. J. D. Young, a bird- 

 trapper. In the Australian Museum collection there are specimens obtained at Cape York, 



Cooktown, Cardwell, Port Darwin, and \\'ide Bay, 

 in Queensland. There is also a number of specimens 

 from the northern coastal rivers of New South Wales, 

 over which it appears to be generally distributed. I 

 observed small flocks at Ourimbah in 1902, and in 

 April, 1906, Mr. A. F. B. Hull found several nests 

 with eggs and young at Manly, near Sydney. 



It chiefly frequents reed and rush-bordered river 

 sides, rank grass flats and cultivated crops. In the 

 Upper Clarence District, where I met with this 

 species in November, iSgS, it assembles in large 

 flocks, and is very destructive on farms, eating onion, 

 lucerne and barley seed. 



There is but little variation in colour in a number 



of adult specimens before me, obtained in widely 



separated localities ; principally it is in the depth of 



colour of the rump and upper tail-coverts, some being 



paler than others. The specimen having these parts 



darker and more richly coloured is a fine old adult male in the collection obtained by Mr. 



George Masters at Wide Bay, Queensland, in October, 1867. Some specimens ha\e narrow 



ashy tips to the cinnamon feathers on the fore neck and chest. 



Mr. Frank Hislop writes me as follows : — " In the Bloomfield River District, North-eastern 

 Queensland, the Chestnut-breasted Finch usually builds in the long flag grass. It first starts 

 the nest by splitting a lot of the blades of flag grass into thin strips, without breaking them off 

 the stalk, and bends them over so as to form a bunch, into which they make an entrance, and 

 line it inside with different kinds of grasses, obtained at some distance from the nest. The 

 structure is made almost entirely of flag grass, and five eggs are usually laid for a sitting." 



While resident at Ripple Creek, Herbert River, Queensland, Mr. J. A. Boyd sent me the 

 following note : — " On the 6th December, 1890, I took a nest of Donacola castaneithorax containing 

 four fresh eggs. It was built in Blady-grass and formed of similar material, finer grasses being 

 used as a lining." 



From Bimbi, Duaringa, Queensland, Mr. H. G. Barnard writes me as follows : — " Munia 

 castaneithorax was a very common bird in these parts, but since the late droughts they are rather 

 scarce. I may state that when at Somerset, Cape York, I found these birds breeding in March, 

 1897. I do not think the Finches have any fixed time for breeding in this district, being guided 



CHESTNUT-BREASTED FINCH. 



