1 8 6 Bird-keeping. 



ends of coloured Berlin wool, and hair. They will 

 build in a cocoa-nut or in an open basket, sometimes 

 weaving a dome-like roof over this, or a perfect hang- 

 ing nest without either foundation. I found mine 

 rather quarrelsome with other birds; and I believe 

 the cocks are very pugnacious during their breeding 

 season (but this is the case with most birds), and are 

 very brave defenders of their nests when attacked by 

 larger birds in an aviary. 



The DIAMOND SPARROW (Amadina or Spermestes 

 Latliami or guttatd} or Spotted -sided Finch, which 

 also comes from Australia, has much the same shape 

 as the Brisbane Finch, stout and short, but it is con- 

 siderably larger than the latter. The beak is deep 

 crimson in colour, and so is the iris and the ring 

 round it : there is a black streak from the bill to the 

 eye ; the head and back are greyish-brown, deepening 

 on the back and assuming a more olive shade on the 

 wings. The throat is white ; the chest has a broad 

 black band across it ; the under part of the body is 

 white, and the sides under the wings are quite black, 

 with oval white spots, from which it has taken its 

 name of "Diamond Sparrow." The lower part of 

 the back and the upper tail - coverts are of a deep 

 carmine ; the tail is black and very short ; the legs 

 and feet are grey. I had one of these birds in my 

 possession for some little time, which inhabited the 

 same cage as the Indigo Bird, and lived on the same 



