Australian Finches in California. 9 



very easily here, and L;enerally start to breed the year of their 

 arrival. I have just now (December 8th, 1918) several pairs 

 acquired last May from an Australian importation, all breedin.t, 

 and raising;" young" ones. Our seasonal fall seems to be their 

 time of predilection for breeding purposes, probably because it 

 corresi)onds to the Australian Spring. After building a quite 

 bulky nest with coarse grass, carefully lined with Pampas 

 plumes (Gyneriuin argcntum), four or five eggs — very seldom 

 six — are deposited on the downy bed and left entirely in charge 

 of the male, who seems glad to incubate them without any 

 interference from the female. The eclosion takes place after 

 fifteen or sixteen days of steady sitting, and the youngsters 

 leave the nest three weeks to a day after their birth. In their 

 nestling plumage they are all dull green, with two little pearly 

 excrescences at the base of both mandibles, which give them a 

 peculiar look, but which disappear soon after their leaving the 

 nest. It takes them six or seven months to acquire the gaudy 

 plumage of the adult, and from then on are very sturdy and 

 long-lived birds; that is one of the reasons why they are so 

 highly thought of by our aviarists all over California. 



Second in popularity to the Gouldians are the Long-tailed 

 Grassfinches (PucpJiila acuticauda) known here under the name 

 of Shaft-tailed Finches. They are exceedingly hardy birds, 

 and most prolific breeders. I have in my possession one pair 

 that has laid twenty-eight eggs since May 20th, 1918, and are, 

 even now, attending to a brood of seven yotmg ones. The 

 moulting season — in July — they laid six eggs, which were all 

 infertile, as would be expected. Their young don't show the 

 same precocity as the Gouldians. as they are at least six weeks 

 old before they leave their nest. But, as breeders, the Long- 

 tailed Grassfinch certainly deserves the " Blue Ribbon." 



Masked Grassfinches (I'oephila pcrsoiiata) are also quite 

 common in our aviaries, but don't show the same propensity 

 for breeding" as the Long-tailed. They are very healthy birds 

 get established easily, but somehow are too dull for some 

 amateurs. They are far from being as popular as Gouldian 

 and Long-tailed Grassfinches, 



