283 



by the seasons and breeding whenever there is an abundance of grass seed, as for instance in 

 1903, after the great drought, they commenced breeding in May and bred right through the 

 winter, and up to December, when a dry spell coming on they stopped for a time ; but rain 

 falling again in February, 1904, they bred in March and April." 



Mr. George Savidge sends 

 me the following notes from Cop- 

 manhurst, New South Wales : — 

 " The Chestnut-breasted Finch 

 may be found breeding here 

 throughout the year ; I took a set 

 of five fresh eggs at the end of 

 April. It congregates in large 

 flocks in wmter, is very fond of 

 barley seed, hence its local name 

 " Barley Bird." 



The nest is a large, loosely- 

 built, dome-shaped structure, out- 

 wardly formed of coarse dried 

 grasses, and lined inside with fine 

 dried grass, the entrance being 

 protected with a hood several 

 inches in length. In one now 

 before me, the base of the nest 

 is built of the thin dried strips of 

 the sheaths of maize stalks, the 

 remainder of it being composed 

 wholly of the dried grass-like 

 covering of the maize cobs, and 

 with a slight lining at the bottom 

 of the nest of very fine dried 

 grasses. It measures externally 

 eight inches and a half in length 

 by five inches and a half in 

 breadth, the entrance one inch 

 and a half, and the protecting 

 hood over it four inches. This, 

 and another similar nest sent by 

 Mr. Savidge, were built among 

 some dead maize stalks, about 

 two feet from the ground. Usually 

 the nests are built in long rank 

 grass. In the Upper Clarence 

 District they are generally found 

 in the Blady Grass. The nest 

 here figured is reproduced from a photograph sent by Mr. Savidge. 



The eggs are pure white, usually five, sometimes six, in number for a sitting, oval in form, 

 the shell being close-grained, smooth and almost lustreless. A set of five measures : — Length 

 (A) 0-66 X 0-45 inches; (B) o-68 x 0-47 inches; (C) 0-67 x 0-46 inches; (D) o-66 x 0-43 

 inches; (E) 07 x 0-45 inches. 



N'KST OF CIIKSTNUT-BREASTED FINCH. 



