Poephila acuticauda, 



LONG-TAILED GRASS FINCH. 

 Amadina acuticauda, Uoulcl, Proc. Zool. Soc, lt>39, p. U3. 



Poephila acuticauda, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. III., pi. 90 (ISIS) ; id., Hand-bk. Bds. Austr , 



Vol. I., p. 422 (1865) ; Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XIII., p. 375 (1890) ; Nortli, 



Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, Vol. II., 2nd series, p. 408 (1888). 



Adult male— Crojvn of the head and nape grey ; mantle pinkish-hrown : wings and back hr own , 



upper tail-coverts white; a bar across the riimp, and the tail feathers black: lores black; cheeks light 



"Wgret/ ; chin and throat black; remainder of the under surface pinkish fawn colour; each side of the lower 



Janks crossed with a black band; vent and under tail-coverts white; bill wax yellow ; legs and feet 



bright red; iris black. Total length in the ,ffesh 6:1 inches, wing 2-^5, central tail feathers JS, bill 



0'5, tarsus 0-55. 



Adult female— 5i)?M7ar in plumage to the male. 

 Distribution — North-western Australia. 

 /T^HE Long-tailed Grass Finch, which may be distinguished by its pale wax yellow bill, is 

 -L e.Kclusively confined to the north-western portions of the continent ; those specimens 

 referred to by various writers from the Northern Territory of South Australia, belong to its close 

 ally Poephila hccki. The late Mr. T. H. Bowyer-Bower collected a fine series of skins of Poephila 

 acuticauda, n&nx Derby, North-western Australia, in i886; and his assistant, Mr. W. Burton, 

 brought a number of live birds to Sydney. This species lives well in confinement, and Dr. 

 E. P. Ramsay had several pairs breeding in an aviary at the Australian Museum. While a 

 member of the Calvert Exploring Expedition, Mr. G. A. Keartland obtained specimens near the 

 Fitzroy River, in North-western Australia, in 1896-7. Live birds were also trapped by placing 

 a dish of water under a frame covered with cheese-cloth. Some of these birds I saw in an 

 aviary at Mr. Keartland's home near Melbourne. 



The total length of the two attenuated central tail feathers varies considerably; in perfectly 

 plumaged specimens they average three inches and a half. Gould refers to a specimen in the 

 British Museum, having the central tail feathers five inches and a quarter in length, which is 

 evidently abnormal, as the total length of an average bird in the flesh is only 6-5 inches. Gould 

 figures and describes the feet of this species as yellow, the colour probably being taken from a 

 dried skin ; in living birds they are bright red. 



The late Mr. T. H. Bowyer-Bower found this species breeding near Derby, in the long 

 grass and low bushes, formmg a dome-shaped nest of grasses, and laying usually five eggs for a 

 sitting. In the same locality nests were found by Mr. E. J. Cairn during September and 

 (October. The birds Dr. E. P. Ramsay had in an aviary at the Museum, had no fixed breeding 

 times, young birds being reared at all seasons of the year. 



The eggs are white, and vary from oval to elongate oval in form, the shell being close- 

 grained, smooth and lustreless. A set of five measures :— Length (A) o-68 x 0-48 inches ; 

 (B)o-65 X 0-4 inches; (C)o-69 x 0-46 inches ; (D) 071 x 0-48 inches ; (F) o'65 x 0-43 inches. 

 Another set of f^ve in Mr. G. A. Keartland's collection, taken by Mr. George Douglas on the 

 8th May, 1900, near the Fitzroy River, measures :— Length (A) 0-62 x 0-43 inches; (B) 0-63 

 X 0-43 inches; (C) o-6i x 0-46 inches ; (D) 0-62 x 0^44 inches ; (E) 0-63 x 0-46 inches. 



Young birds resemble the adults, but are everywhere much duller in colour ; tail feathers 

 brownish-black, all but the central pair tipped with white, more largely on the outermost feather 

 on either side. 



