68 Stray Feathers. I ^^ 



Emu 



Oct. 



and nests and young birds were plentiful, but I have neither 

 seen nor heard them for months, so conclude they have also 

 gone w^est again. Another little bird that has been conspicuous 

 by its absence since the return to good seasons is the Orange- 

 backed Wren {Mahtrus melanocc phahis). They were always 

 fairly plentiful in the long grass, and we were seldom without 

 a little fiock of them in our garden. For some months past 

 I have noticed that we never see them now, and I cannot recall 

 having once seen any since the drought broke up. My brother 

 has noticed the same thing, and has not seen any during the 

 past two years. I have noticed the other kind, which we find 

 in our scrub — M. lambcrti, I think. 



The Pallid Cuckoo, which either leaves us altogether in the 

 winter, or else is so quiet that it is unnoticed, has been much in 

 evidence all this winter, though I find in my notes for last winter 

 that the first one was heard on i8th July. Fairy Martins {L. 

 arid) seem to have been with us all the winter, and have been 

 interesting themselves in some old nests under one of the 

 verandahs, putting on spouts, &c., but so far, I believe, have 

 not laid. We always have one or two pairs of the Barred- 

 shouldered Dove (G. hiimeralis) in the garden, and one pair 

 has brought out two clutches of young since the beginning of 

 April last, and is now repairing the nest for a third attempt. 

 Good luck to them ! Last year the first Channel-billed Cuckoo 

 (Scythrops) was heard on 6th September, and Dollar-Birds {Eury- 

 stomiis) on loth October.— Chas. A. BARNARD. 10/8/'' 04. 

 * * * 



Finches in Northern Queensland. — A short note on the 

 Finches of this district I think will reply to your query re Miinia 

 pectoralis in July's (1904) Ewu, on page 24. All the species 

 given below I have shot or taken alive within 25 miles either 

 side of Northern railway line from the Lower Burdekin River 

 to Warrigul Creek, a distance of about 80 miles, and from 700 

 to 1,500 feet above sea-level, mostly ironbark and box country, 

 with plenty of wattle {acacia). 



Spotted-sided Finch {Stagano pleura guttata). — A few always 

 to be found on the Cape River. 



Chestnut-eared Y\VLc\\{TcBniopygia castajwtis). — Very common 

 all over district. 



Banded Finch {Stictoptera bichcnovii). — In the gullies under 

 the ranges ; fairly common. 



Chestnut-breasted Finch {Munia castaneithorax). — Common in 

 wet seasons. 



White-breasted Finch (J\i. pectoralis). — Saw first specimen in 

 1899, taken on Campaspe River; got a nest 26th April, 1895, 

 inside railway fence (homestead). Few to be seen here now. 

 I have some alive in cage. 



Plumhead Finch {Aidejnosyne modest a). — Very common. 



Red-browed Finch (JEgintha temporalis). — I have brought this 



