THE GOULDIAN FINCH. 167 



followed suite, and two others subsequently purchased did likewise. 



Early in 1892, the last cock bird died, those indoors having 

 commenced to drop off at the approach of winter ; whereas, that out 

 in the frost survived until the spring; thus distinctly proving that 

 fresh air is more important than warmth, even to these most delicate 

 of Australian Finches. 



In the autumn, of 1896, I purchased five males and three females 

 of the Black-headed variety in young green and grey plumage, but 

 just commencing to assume the adult dress. The change was not 

 produced by a moult, for not a feather was shed, but by the growth 

 of a new set of feathers from between the young plumage, which they 

 thus completely concealed. All these birds seemed vigorous for the 

 first six weeks or so ; then they dropped off one by one daily until 

 only three males remained. These acquired the full adult colouring 

 and are still living and apparently well as I write, having been in 

 their cage about eighteen months. 



All the aviculturists with whom I have communicated, with the 

 exception of Mr. Phillipps, have had similar experiences to my own, 

 in their attempts to breed Gouldian Finches ; but, I believe, if these 

 birds could be turned loose in a large, airy, well heated saloon : lofty, 

 and ventilated near the ceiling, they might both be easily bred and 

 kept. A room fifteen feet by sixteen, and eleven feet six inches in 

 height, seems to be not large enough, when other birds are associated 

 with them, for that is the size of my bird-room ; the cage in which I 

 kept them being twelve feet in length, and seven feet six inches in 

 width. 



Mr. Gould writing of the Black-headed variety (P. gouldia) says 

 that it "was discovered by Gilbert, on Greenhill Island, at the head 

 of Van Diemen's gulf, where it inhabited the edges of the mangroves 

 and thickets : when disturbed it invariably flew to the topmost branches 

 of the loftiest gums, a habit I have not before observed in any other 

 members of the genus. Its note is a very mournful sound added to 

 a double twit. Those, I observed, were feeding among the high grass 

 in small families, of from four to seven in number, and were very 

 shy. The stomach is tolerably muscular, and the food consists of 

 grass and other seeds." 



Mr. North says of P. mirabilis : "The nest of this species, like 

 other members of the genus, is a dome-shaped structure, composed 

 entirely of dried grasses. It is usually placed in a low tree or bush 

 not far from the ground. Eggs white, five in number for a sitting, 

 varying from oval to pyriform in shape." Of P. gouldue he says : 



