POEPHILA. 299 



There is but little variation in a number of specimens now before me, but all are paler in 

 colour, especially on the under parts, than is represented in Gould's folio edition of the " Birds 

 of Australia." ' 



Mr. G. A. Keartland sent me on loan, for examination, a set of eggs taken by Mr. E. J. 

 Harris from an oval grass-formed nest built in a low bush in February, 1899, near the Fitzroy 

 River in North-western Australia, accompanied by a skin of the female. The eggs, four 

 in number, are oval in form, the shell being white, close-grained and its surface smooth and 

 lustreless, and measure: — Length (A) 0-63 x 0"52 inches; (B) 0-7 x 0-47 inches; (C) 0-62 

 X o'47 inches; (D) 0"65 x o'53 inches. 



Poephila leucotis. 



WHITE-EARED GRASS FINCH. 

 Poephila leucotis, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1846, p. 106 ; id., Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. III., pi. 92 (1848) ; 

 id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 424 (186.5) ; Sharps, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mua., Vol. XIII., 

 p. 377 (1890). 



Adult m\le — General colour above, including (he wings, cinnamon colour, being slightly darker 

 on the sinciput and crown of the head ; rtunp and upper tail-coverts white; tail feathers black ; lores, 

 forehead, anterior portion of cheeks, and a large oval spot on the chin and upper throat, black ; ear- 

 coverts, posterior portion of cheek and a narrow band below the upper throat white : breast very pale 

 vinous-bro?vn, which is separated from a large black patch on either flank by a narrow white band; 

 centre of lozver breast and abdomen, thighs and under tail-coverts, white. Ihtal length in the flesh JitS 

 inches, iving :2'2o, tail J, bill 0'4, tarstis 0:5o. 



Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male, but slightly smaller. 



Distribution — Northern Queensland. 

 /TsV OULD described this very distinct species in the " Proceedings of the Zoological 

 V — A Society " of London, in 1846.! The type was obtained by Gilbert, near the Lynd 

 River, on the 3rd June, 1845, during Dr. Leichhardt's " Overland Expedition from Moreton Bay 

 to Port Essington," and just twenty-five days before he was treacherously speared and killed by 

 the blacks. It is beautifully figured by Gould, in his folio edition of the " Birds of Australia," 

 and shows the gradual blending of the very pale vinous-brown breast into the white of the 

 ear-coverts, upper throat and lower breast. Specimens in the Australian Museum collection 

 were obtained by Mr. T. H. Gulliver at Normanton, near the mouth of the Norman River, by 

 Captain E. Armit at Georgetown, and there is a very fine adult male, presented by Dr. Henry 

 Sinclair, of Sydney. At various times I have noted this species in the bird dealers' shops of Sydney, 

 but in far smaller numbers than the preceding species, Poephila personata. From inquiries made, 

 they were all obtained in the Gulf District of Queensland, and although I have never seen 

 specimens from any other State, its range probably extends into the eastern portions of the 

 Northern Territory of South Australia. 



Dr. Henry Sinclair, of Sydney, had a pair of these Finches construct a nest in confinement, 

 which was of the usual flask-shaped form, and composed wholly of dried grasses. Four eggs 

 were laid, on which the female sat for some time, but did not succeed in hatching them. 



A set of four eggs taken at Georgetown, in the Burke District, Northern Queensland, and 

 not far distant from the Gulf of Carpentaria, are oval in form, somewhat pointed at the smaller 

 end, pure white, the shell being close-grained, smooth and lustreless, and measure as follows : — 

 Length (A) 0-63 x 0-45 inches ; (B) 0-63 x 0-48 inches ; (C) 0-65 x 0-47 inches ; (D) 0-62 x 

 0'47 inches. 



• Gould, Bds. Aust., fol. Vol. III., p. 91 (1S4S). f Proc. Zool. Soc, 1846, p. 10 



