168 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



a level with its handsomer relative ; as the latter is far 

 less inclined to be spiteful, I think the dealers made 

 a mistake in raising the price of Poep/iila rinrta ; the 

 two birds offered at the same price do not now stand 

 an, equal chance of going off, since P. acutirauda has 

 every advantage to recommend it to the purchaser. 



DIAMOND OK SPOTTKD-SIDED FINCH (Staganopleura 



guttata.} 



General colour of upper surface mouse-brown, greyer 

 on. the head ; the rump and upper tail coverts fiery 

 carmine red, the tail intense black ; the under parts are 

 pure white, with a broad belt of jet black across the 

 chest ; sides black, each feather being marked externally 

 with a snowy-white semicircular spot ; the beak is 

 crimson, that of the hen being rose-pink at the b:ise of 

 the upper mandible ; behind the upper mandible is a 

 patch of black which extends to the eye ; feet grey. 

 In order to distinguish the sexes of this lovely species 

 it is necessary to compare the heads side by side, the 

 different colouring at the base of the beak is then easily 

 seen, and the cock will be found to have a slightly 

 broader head. Hab., South Australia to New South 

 Wales, and northward to the Wide Bay District. 



In its -wild state this bird is widely distributed, and 

 builds its nest of wiry grasses, and of the usual form, in 

 gum or apple trees, or in the sticks forming the founda- 

 tions of a small eagle's nest. In confinement, however, 

 it appears to prefer a travelling Canary cage to all other 

 receptacles, but owing to the absurd jealousy of the 

 hen it is not easy to breed, as she resists every effort 

 of the cock bird to enter the nest by day, yet insists 

 upon his entering it to -pass the night. 



About 1889 the male of a pair which I had persisted 

 in entering the nest in the day-time, and eventually 

 his wife killed him. Subsequently she went about 

 moping and calling him until she fell ill and died also. 

 It was years before I had a second pair, for the im- 

 portation of the species suddenly fell off, so that it 

 must have 'been about 1895 that I eventually succeeded ; 

 they did not, however, live many months in my 

 possession. 



I bought my third pair either in 1904 or 1905 ; the 

 female did not live many months, and the male died 

 at the end of October, 1906. It was a very interesting 

 example, in which some of the breast feathers were 

 tipped with rose-red, an instance of reversion to an 

 -ancestral tvpe (in which the breast was doubtless largely 

 crimson, as in the hybrid between the Diamond and 

 Zebra Finches; cf. The Arirultunil Magazine, N.S., 

 Vol IV., pp. 345-354, with coloured plate).' 



The call-note of this species, like that of the Parson 

 Finch, is plaintive and iinpleasing, and the snng is con- 

 temptible, but the love dance is exceedingly ludicrous : 

 I got my artist to draw it from life and reproduce it on 

 the plate of this species in my " Foreign Finches in 

 Captivity." 



Like nearly all the Australian ornamental Finches, 

 the Diamond or Spotted-sided Finch is indifferent to 

 cold, and perfectly capable of passing its existence in 

 an open-air aviary. 



PAINTKD FINCH (EmUema picta). 



General colour above pale brown ; flights darker ; 

 rump and upper tail-coverts bright scarlet ; tail-feathers 

 blackish, tinged with scarlet on the margins ; lores, a 

 narrow eyebrow, feathers of orbital region and front of 

 cheeks scarlet ; throat and body below black ; a few 

 feathers on chin and front of throat tipped with scarlet ; 

 centre of neck and chest scarlet; sides and flanks con- 

 spicuously spotted with white, the ground-colour of the 

 flanks being brown ; under wing-coverts yellowish ; 



under tail-coverts black ; upper mandible black, tipped 

 with scarlet, lower mandible scarlet, with a blue patch 

 at the base ; feet probably flesh-brown ; irides straw- 

 whitish. Female without scarlet on the cheeks, orbital 

 region and throat, and only a tinge on the breast ; 

 under surface of body browner and more plentifully 

 spotted with white. Hab., West, North- West, and 

 South Australia, and New South Wales. A. J. Camp- 

 bell (" Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds/' p. 482) 

 quoted the following notes on the wild life by Mr. G. A. 

 Keartland : " These beautiful Finches were first found 

 in the rocky gorges of McMinn's Range, and subse- 

 quently at Stokes' Pass, Glen of Palms, and Bagot's 

 Spring. They are very timid, and somewhat difficult 

 to approach. Although there is no sexual difference in 

 plumage, they vary with age. The scarlet patch, so 

 conspicuous on the breasts of adults, is almost or entirely 

 absent on the young ones, and the rich black on the 

 under parts of the mature birds is also replaced by a 

 smoky black on the young. 'Several of their nests were 

 seen, which closely resembled those of Teeniopyffia 

 rosfanotis, but were a trifle larger in size. They wen> 

 placed on low bushes, built of grass, and oval-shaped. 

 Unfortunately, they all contained young birds. The 

 eyes of the adults being white, give the live birds a re- 

 markable appearance."* 



Mr. Campbell describes the nest and eggs as fol- 

 lows : "Nest. Bottle-shaped or covered in, with a 

 spouted side entrance ; constructed of grasses chiefly, 

 with the addition of portions of other plants ; lined 

 inside somewhat sparingly with fine grasses and fur or 

 feathers. Usually situated in a thickly-foliaged tree or 

 bush. Dimensions about 12 inches in length by 18 

 inches in circumference round thickest part of the body. 

 Eggs. Clutch, five to seven, occasionally eight ; long 

 oval or lengthened in form ; texture of shell fine ; sur- 

 face without gloss ; colour pure white. Dimensions in 

 inches of a full clutch: (1) .75 by .53, (2) .75 by .52, 

 (3) .73 by .51, (4) .72 by .51, (5) .71 by .52, (6) .69 by 

 .52, (7) .69 by .49." The late Mr. Wiener succeeded in 

 securing specimens of this rare Grass-finch in 1869 and 

 1877, and he saw the dead bodies of some recently im- 

 ported specimens in 1877 ; Dr. Russ also mentions that 

 Mi'. Preyer, of Trieste, possessed a specimen in 1875, 

 and Miss Hagenbeck sent him one in 1877. 



From that date the species appears to have practically 

 disappeared from the European market until Messrs. 

 Payne and Wallace obtained a pair in 1905, which were 

 secured in Italy by the Rev. Hubert D. Astley. In 

 1907 the same collectors had a second pair in their 

 collection at Bath, but naturally when so few examples 

 are imported the price of these lovely birds is too high 

 to tempt any but the wealthy. In 1908 a fair number 

 came to hand, but the price was excessive. Dr. Russ 

 first pointed out the relationship of this species to the 

 Spotted-sided Finch, though he unaccountably retained 

 it among the Waxbills, and thereby led me astray for 

 a time. 



RUFOUS-TAILED GKASSFINCH (BathUctb, ruficauda). 

 Above dull olive-green, a little paler on. rump ; upper 

 tail-coverts vinous, with a transverse ill -defined dusky 

 subterminal bar and pink tips ; flights dusky on inner 

 webs ; central tail-feathers dull vinous-red ; remaining 

 feathers smoky blackish, with vinous-red outer webs ; 

 forehead, lores, orbital region, cheeks and chin scarlet ; 

 ear-coverts scarlet, dotted with white; throat, sides of 

 neck, breast, sides and flanks olive, rather paler than 



* A. writer to the Emu for 1904 speaks of the nest as small, laruely 

 built of sticks, and with a number of pellets of clay in the founda- 

 tion. This is quite unlike Campbell's description. 



