THE AUSTRALIAN FIRE-FINCH. 139 



or four were obtained in rich plumage. About the latter part of 

 November they were either in pairs or in small companies, not exceed- 

 ing six in number: the males decorated with their rich and spotted 

 dress. The food consists of grass and other small seeds." 



The following is from the pen of Mr. A. J. North : " The 

 e gg s * * were taken by Mr. J. Rainbird, in 1864, from some of 

 the nests at that time common on extensive grass-lands near Port 

 Denison. The nest is like all others of the family, a flask-shaped 

 structure of grasses, with a long narrow entrance, placed on its 

 side in any convenient place, either in Pandanus trees or adjacent 

 shrubs, or among the stronger of the grass stems. The eggs, four 

 or five for a sitting, are small in comparison with the size of the 

 birds." 



"Mr. J. O. Boyd informs me that a pair of these birds built their 

 nest on the wall-plate, in one of the corners of the verandah of his 

 house, on the Herbert River, Queensland, utilizing the iron as a shelter 

 to the nest. In his opinion they were probably induced to do this by 

 some captive compatriots placed there, and the canary seed they picked 

 up near their cage." 



Dr. Russ calls this the " Australian Amaranth " ; he says : " If 

 the rays of the evening or morning sun strike through the window 

 into the bird-room and gild this Ornamental Finch, it indeed deserves 

 the name of Sun-Astrild in the fullest sense of the word. A male in 

 my bird-room was sociable, yet at times spiteful towards small birds, 

 especially defenceless young ones. With hens of allied species it 

 would not pair. 



" Since then it has been bred by Mr. J. Schmidt, of Hamburg. 



"A pair nested in 1876, in a large breeding-cage; the young, 

 however, died after eight days, evidently from feeding with wet green 

 food. In the middle of July I let the Sun-Astrilds fly in the bird- 

 room, where in truth they chased the smaller Astrilds. They then 

 built, in a little open box, a nest of agave fibres and grass-bents, with 

 long entrance tube, and lined with feathers. Time of incubation eleven 

 to twelve days ; after two to three weeks the young ones flew out. 

 Young plumage dingy clear brown ; breast lighter ; in the reddish 

 colouring of the croup and upper tail-feathers, recognizable as the 

 species. In their first state of development, to avoid disturbing them, 

 I did not examine the young ones. The old birds consumed at least 

 twenty-five mealworms daily, which they took out of my hand. They 

 courageously defended the nest ; flew round me with fan-like outspread 

 tails, whenever I approached it. 



