THE NATURALIST IN AUSTRALIA. 



headed type, is specifically retained. The black-headed bird is accordingly distinguished 

 by the name of P. mirabilis var. Gouldw, while a third accredited variety, in which 

 the scarlet or black area of the head is replaced by yellow, has received the 

 title of P. mirabilis var. armitiana. Since, however, this yellow-headed type has 

 been met with only among examples bred in confinement, there is every reason 

 for anticipating that this form is only a weak and imperfectly developed phase of the 

 red-headed species. According to some of the writers quoted by Dr. Butler, scarlet- 

 headed birds may result as the offspring of black-headed parents or vice versa, while 

 by others it is maintained that they breed perfectly true to their race. Mr. Abrahams, 

 one of the oldest and most extensive importers of these Australian finches, quoted by 

 Dr. Butler, attests to experiencing no difficulty whatever in relegating the adult birds 

 to their respective race. Previous to their first moult the young birds of both races 

 and sexes are a dull grey-green throughout, but after this period the distinctive red 

 or pure black feathers begin to make their appearance, and become more conspicuously 

 developed with each successive moult. 



Leaving the settlement of their specific distinction or identity to ornithologists, 

 an account of the very interesting traits, or, it might be written, accomplishments, 

 that both the red and black-capped Poephilae share in common, may be proceeded 

 with. In Gould's standard work and other books on birds, copied from that authority, 

 the only sound attributed to them is a mournful piping added to a double twit. This, 

 as reported to Mr. Gould by his agent, Mr. Gilbert, is all that a traveller or collector 

 would probably hear of them in their wild state, under which conditions, at first 

 alarm, they usually utter these warning notes the male piping and the female 

 twitting while they fly for refuge to the tree tops. Under domesticated influences, 

 however, all fear is soon cast aside, and though the females never distinguish 

 themselves as vocalists beyond the aforesaid twitter and a few supplementary 

 notes, the males unburden themselves incessantly in song. This song is not a loud 

 one, but remarkable for its sustained volume and most peculiar timbre. To the 

 writer and others enjoying with him the privilege of the first rehearsals, the most 

 appropriate simile' that this Poephila's song suggested was that of a whole choir of 

 birds, such as a company of swallows, singing in a distant grove. The notes, though 

 small and feeble, are very clear and sweet, and come pouring out in so rapid a stream 

 that it is difficult to realize a single one only is emitted at a time. So deceptive, in 

 fact, is the effect produced, that an uninitiated listener, soon after they were first 

 brought home, announced to the author that three or four of the birds had been 



