232 Letters, Announcements, 3fc. 



Grafton, I found Donacola castaneothorax very abundant, meet- 

 ing with it almost every day in small troops of from five to ten 

 in number. As very little has been recorded with respect to 

 this species, a few notes upon it may not be unacceptable. 



I had no difficulty in finding its nests and eggs, both of which 

 closely resemble those of the Estreldce and Amandina. The 

 nest is a large structure, in shape like a flask or bottle placed 

 on its side ; and the entrance, which is about an inch and a half 

 wide, is situated at the end of a long neck, the whole being 

 about 14 inches in length by 6 inches in diameter. It is usually 

 built near the top of some bushy shrub or in tangled masses of 

 vines, and composed of grasses and the leaves of reeds, with fine 

 stems of plants {Goodenia or Lobelia, according to the district 

 its owner frequents), being lined with finer materials — the downy 

 tops of reeds and flags, and occasionally a few feathers. It 

 closely resembles the nest of Estrelda phaeton, which I have re- 

 ceived from Port Denison, and, like that, is often found placed 

 among the stiff" leaves of a grass-like plant growing upon the 

 sides of the trees in and about the edges of the scrubs. The 

 eggs are from four to five in number, slightly larger than those 

 of Estrelda temporalis, being from "6 to "65 in. in length by 

 from '4 to '5 in. in breadth. They are of a dead limy-white 

 colour, and are more frequently elongated than roundish in 

 form. 



I usually found Donacola castaneothorax in company with 

 Estrelda temporalis, frequently in the fields picking out the grain 

 from the ears on the ground round the wheat-stacks. During 

 the month of September I found them in all stages of plumage 

 and in every variety of situation, — in the " opens/' among the 

 brushes, and on the edges of creeks and lagoons ; while a pair 

 might often be seen on the river-bank, either hopping about 

 among the herbage under the acacia-trees, or perched on the 

 reed-tops, picking out the seed from the feathery tassels which 

 fringe its edges. 



Hundreds, I might say thousands, of this species are sent 

 down yearly to Sydney from Rockhampton, Port Denison, and 

 other ports of Queensland. Few, if any, come from the Cla- 

 rence or Richmond' Rivers ; for, with the exception oi Amadina 



