Vol. XVII. 



I9I7 



I Mathews, The Nesflings of Avisiralian Finches. lOI 



our classification. We may ignore the condition ol the outermost 

 primary in this place, as it does not concern us. 



Two sub-families have long been recognized in the family 

 Ploceidae — Ploceinae and Estrildinge — all the Australian Finches 

 being referred to the latter. Again, Chapin separates some 

 aberrant members in the former sub-family, but that is of more 

 interest to the general systematist or African specialist than to 

 ourselves. He states, however : — " The skeletons . . . show 

 no differences by which the Ploceinae can be distinguished from 

 the Estrildinae. Moreover, they even agree closely with those of 

 Fringillidse, such as Passer, Pinicola, and Parvaria." No skeletons 

 of Australian forms seem to have been examined, so that it would 

 be of interest to consider these, especially as it is concluded after- 

 wards that these are the most specialized forms. 



Chapin's chief item is in regard to the mouth markings of the 

 nestlings. Campbell, in the " Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds," 

 vol. i., p. 498 (1901), under the species Poephila mirabilis, wrote : — 

 " There is a singular fact in connection with the young birds that 

 has not yet been recorded by other observers — that is, a pro- 

 tuberance upon the gape which (when the youngster is in a dark 

 part of the aviary) reflects the light and shines with an opal-like 

 brilliancy." Simultaneously, however, this has been noted by 

 A. G. Butler in the Aviciiltural Magazine, vol. v., p. 25, December, 

 i8()8 (Campbell's MS. was written before this date, though not 

 published until igoi), where he published a note " On the Orna- 

 mentation of the Mouth in the Young Gouldian Finch," observing: 

 — " The inside of the mouth is either ivory-white or flesh-pink, 

 the palate conspicuously marked (like a domino) with five more 

 or less round black spots in pentagonal form — one in front, two 

 wide apart in the centre, and two near together at the back. 

 . The tongue is crossed just in front of its centre b}' a 

 broad belt, or by two large pear-shaped black spots, with apex 

 directed forward. . . . \i the back of the gape are three 

 prominent rounded tubercles in the form of a triangle. Two were 

 emeratd green and one blue, and all had a pearly or opalescent 

 lustre." 



Chapin states his results thus : — " The two sub- families Estril- 

 clinae and Ploceinae will be retained. For convenience we may 

 distinguish them in English as Weaver-Finches and Weaver-Birds 

 (or true Weavers). . . So far as known, all the nestlings 

 of the Ploceinae lack dark spots in the mouth, have the gape simply 

 swollen, and yellow or whitish, as is usual in the young of Passerine 

 birds. The eggs of Ploceinae are usually coloured or spotted, 

 though in a few cases pure white. . . The Estrildinae are to 

 be distinguished by the fact that their nestlings exhibit dark 

 pigmented spots or lines in the mouth, often with small coloured 

 wattles or lobes at the gape. These latter are lacking in Spermestes, 

 Amauresthcs, and Munia, which have lines on the palate instead 

 of spots. Those three genera, with others, no doubt, still to be 

 ascertained, are thus rather distinct from the rest of the group. 



