INSESSORES. 83 



bringing home several on my return in 1840. Since that 

 period nearly every ship coming direct from the southern 

 parts of Australia has added to the numbers of this bird in 

 England ; and I have more than once seen two thousand at a 

 time in a small room at a dealer's in Wapping. 



The bird has also bred here as readily as the Canary ; still 

 it is one which cannot be naturalized in a wild state, our 

 climate not having the requisite degree of warmth, nor the 

 country producing the kind of food suited to it. 



In a state of nature they feed exclusively upon grass-seeds, 

 with which their crops are always found crammed : in con- 

 finement they thrive equally well upon canary seed. 



The sexes are precisely alike in the colouring and marking 

 of their plumage ; but the female is somewhat smaller than the 

 male, and has the colouring round the nostrils of a lighter 

 tint. 



The adults have the forehead and crown straw yellow ; the 

 remainder of the head, ear-coverts, nape, upper part of the 

 back, scapularies and wing-coverts pale greenish yellow, each 

 feather having a crescent-shaped mark of blackish brown near 

 the extremity, these marks being numerous and minute on the 

 head and neck ; wings brown ; the outer webs of the feathers 

 deep green, margined with greenish yellow ; face and throat 

 yellow, ornamented on each cheek with a patch of rich blue, 

 below which are three circular drops or spots of bluish black ; 

 rump, upper tail-coverts, and all the under surface bright 

 green ; two centre tail-feathers blue ; the remaining tail-fea- 

 thers green, crossed in the middle by an oblique band of 

 yellow ; irides straw white ; nostrils bright blue in some, 

 greenish blue and brown in others ; legs pale bluish lead- 

 colour. 



The young are distinguished from the adults by the crown 

 of the head, which is yellow in the adult, being crossed hy 

 numerous fine bars of brown, and by the absence of the deep 

 blue spots on the throat. 



