348 Some Foreign Birds I have kept. [Sess. 
distinguishing mark. The double-banded finches are more 
abundant in the southern and eastern portion of Australia 
than elsewhere, and there they are rarely met with except in 
the interior, congregating in small parties upon open grass 
plains, feeding on grass seeds and minute insects. Their 
favourite haunts being somewhat beyond the happy hunting- 
grounds of professional bird-catchers for the British market, 
these finches are seldom to be obtained in this country; the 
few pairs which annually find their way over being readily 
bought up at high prices, Continental dealers always being 
ready to purchase any number of them. 
The next bird is the Long-tailed Grass finch (Poephilda 
acuticauda). This is another of the pointed tail finches also 
found in the northern portion of Australia. The bird here 
treated of is grey on the head and face; the tail is black, and 
the two centre feathers extend beyond the rest to a point. 
The throat is black; breast fawn colour. Total length, five 
inches. It is a very rare bird in England. From personal 
knowledge this is a very pretty, happy, and amiable bird, but 
one often meets with disappointment. At night the bird 
is bright, healthy, and lively. In the morning it is dead. 
This is caused, it is said, by a gradual drying up of the 
heart - organs through the eating of dry seeds. To avoid 
this the bird (in fact all the finches) should have always 
a head of Indian millet in their cage or aviary, or even 
the heads of ordinary wild grasses. 
The last bird which I exhibit is the Gouldian finch (Sper- 
mestes Goulde). These lovely birds were named by Gould in 
memory of his wife, and they certainly deserve the foremost 
place in the ranks of Australian grass finches. He measures 
four inches in length, his upper body and wings of a rich 
green, beak ruby at base, face and throat velvet-black, sud- 
denly terminating in a broad, dazzling lilac band, which crosses 
the breast. There are two varieties,—what are popularly 
called the “red heads” and “black heads,’ the former 
being much higher in price. The female is very like 
the male in its colours, but is very much duller in 
tone. I may state that these beautiful birds were bred 
two years ago by an Edinburgh lady, for which she 
TE PAE ET Ra Yb ee 
