296 



PLOCEIDiE. 



shell, while on the underside was a nest of F. cincta, which contained three newly hatched young 

 and two eggs just hatching, while within a few feet of the Eagle's nest were no less than three 

 other nests of P. cincta, all of which contained young. These birds also frequently build their 

 nests in the hollow spouts of dead limbs." 



Writing on the 17th July, 1907, Mr. Barnard remarks :—" P(v/>/;//(T cincta is building now; 

 there are also nests here with eggs and young. On the 8th December, 1893, I saw a nest of 

 this species containing young, at Duaringa Railway Station, built under the arm of the 

 semaphore." 



A nest of this species taken by Mr. H. G. Barnard, at Duaringa, Queensland, is a rounded 

 oval structure with a somewhat large entrance near the top ; it is compactly formed at the base 

 with coarse grass stems and thin flowering plant stalks, the walls becoming thinner towards the 

 top, and the spout-like entrance consists entirely of very fine dried grasses. Externally it 

 measures nine inches and a half in length, by four inches and a half in breadth, and across the 

 entrance two inches. It is built near the junction of several many thin branched upright forks 

 of a small-lea\ed shrub, and was seven feet from the ground. 



The eggs are usually five, sometimes six, and rarely seven in number for a sitting, pure 

 white, oval or elongated oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth and lustreless. A 

 set of five measures :— Length (A) o-6=, x 0-5 inches; (B) o-66 x 0-49 inches ; (0)0-65 x °'5^ 

 inches; (D) 0-65 x 0-52 inches; (E) o-66 x 0-5 inches. A set of six measures: — Length 

 (A) 07 X 0-49 inches; (6)072 x 0-5 inches; (0)072 x 0-51 inches; (D) 07 x 0-52 inches; 

 (E) 072 X 0-49 inches ; (F) 073 x o-5i inches. 



Fully fledged birds resemble the adults in plumage, but are very much paler, and the throat 

 is brown, not black. Wing 1-9 inches. 



From the preceding notes it will be seen that there is no fixed breeding season for the 

 Black-throated Finch, but nests with eggs or young are more frequently found during the first 

 three and the last three months of the year. 



Poephila gouldiae. 



GOULDIAN GRASS FINCH. 



Aniadina gonldue, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1844, p. 5; id., Gould, Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. III., pi. 



88 (1848). 



Poephila mirabilis, Des Murs., Iconogr. Orn., pi. III. (1845) ; Gould, Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. III., pi. 



89 (1848) .■ id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. L, p. 421 (1865). 



PoepJii/a gouldifi; Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 420 (1865). 



Poephila armitiana, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, Vol. II., p. 70 (1878). 



POEPHILA MIRABILIS. 

 Adult male (" Red "-headed var.) : — (J e.neral colour above (jrass-yreen; upper tvimj-coverts and 

 secondari,es like tjie back; ^j»'ij/i«rie.s brown, edged externally ivilh dull grass-green; riimjj and ihpper 

 tail-coverts blue; tail feathers black; lores, cheeks and ear-coverts, forehead and sinciput scarlet, 

 bordered by a narrow line of black, widening out into a conspicuous black patch on the upper throat, 

 and folloioed by a hand of bright cobalt-blue, which is broader on the occiput; fore neck and chest 

 lilac; remainder of the under surface golden-yellow ; under tail-coverts white; bill whitish, red at 

 the tip ; legs and feet dull ochreous-yelloiv ; iris black. Toted length in the flesh 5'3 inches, wing 2-68, 

 central tail feathers 2-S, bill 0-Jf7, tarsns 0:55. 



