THE LITTLE WAX-BILL. 155 



I generally found in low scrub, on the edges of the 

 tea-tree. 



"We come now to the finches, and the members of this 

 class are small in proportion to the soft-billed and honey- 

 eating birds. 



"We had three varieties of the wax-billed finch, or 

 blood-bird, as they are wrongly called in the bush, on 

 account of their blood-red rumps, the real blood-bird 

 being of a bright-red colour, and not met with in this 

 district. The Little Wax-Bill, which was the smallest 

 and commonest of all, being no larger than the liskin at 

 home, of a deep-brown colour, a pointed black tail, a 

 thick beak, red cere round the eye, a bright-scarlet rump, 

 and a red mark over each eye. This was a gregarious 

 bird, and generally met with feeding in flocks, on the 

 ground, among the honeysuckles. The Guinea-Hen 

 Finch was larger than the last, but hardly so large as 

 the linnet at home : of a dark-gray colour, striped and 

 marked with black, a bright-red rump, a short dark tail, 

 the feathers barred, like that of the British wren. This 

 bird was usually seen in pairs, among the small shey- 

 oaks and tea-tree scrub. These two species remained 

 with us throughout the year. But by far the most 

 elegant, and in our district the rarest of all, was the 

 Spotted-sided Finch, a summer migrant to our parts, very 

 similar in shape and size to the last, but of a pure white 

 colour, with gray-and-black markings, six or eight deep- 

 black spots on each side, a bright scarlet rump, and pale- 

 red bill. This little bird was sparingly dispersed in pairs 



