394 Canaries and Cage-Birds. 



BANDED GRASS FINCH {Poiphila cincla), Queensland. 



(Illustration painted from live specimen kindly lent by J. C. Marsh, Esq.) 



Sfiei-imsta cincla (Rui.<\ Aniadina cincla. English dealei-s' name— Parson Finch. German name— " Giirtel Amandine" or 



"Bartfink," or " Pfaffenvogel. " French name — "Diamant il Bavette." 



According to the list of the London Zoological Society, this handsome Australian Finch 

 was first placed in the Gardens in 1861. Dealers began to import the Banded Grass or Parson 

 Finch about the year 1S69, and I well remember with what pleasure I purchased the first 

 pair of Parson Finches, together with the first pair of Double-banded Finches, at a considerable 

 price, in 1869. Since that time this Finch is imported regularly, and has deservedly become 

 a great favourite, as much for his beauty as for his gentle manners. 



In size the Banded Grass Finch is very nearly equal to the Spotted-sided Finch, or 

 Diamond Sparrow, but his body is more slender, his habits are more lively, and his temper 

 is decidedly less excitable than the latter's. The name of Parson Finch is probably due to 

 a broad patch of glossy black ornamenting the throat of this beautifully coloured bird, from 

 whose plumage, however, all glaring colours are absent. The head is of a very pretty silver-grey 

 tint, the body a light but rich chestnut-brown, the tail is black, but the body at the root of 

 the tail is pure white. Through the eye a black line extends from the black beak backwards. 

 The feet are pink. Male and female are much alike, though not very difficult to distinguish 

 by the somewhat less extent of the black patch on the female's throat. The difference is, 

 however, so slight that only an actual and close comparison will enable a connoisseur to select 

 a pair. 



This Finch lives very much like the Diamond Sparrow, but never arrives plucked like 

 the latter, which fact confirms to some extent my opinion that the Diamond Sparrow's 

 jealous temper, and not the food on board ship, is the main cause of these birds pulling each 

 other's feathers out. In Queensland the Parson Finch is found mostly on the large plains in the 

 interior of the country, and is somewhat rare near the sea-coast. Whether this Finch is found 

 in other parts of Australia seems as yet imperfectly ascertained. Transferred to Europe, the bird 

 stands our climate very well indeed, although he will not bear as much cold as the Diamond 

 Sparrow. It might be somewhat risky to keep Parson Finches in an out-door aviary during 

 winter, though a frosty night or two in spring would not hurt a healthy bird in a properly- 

 constructed aviary. 



To amateur breeders the Parson Finch should be very strongly recommended, for he is not 

 difficult to procure in good condition, and is easily kept on a simple diet of millet and canary 

 seed. In the aviary he neither disturbs the smallest African Finches, nor is he easily disturbed 

 by less well-behaved birds. With very little care the Parson Finches will proceed without 

 delay or difficulty to breed a valuable stock of young, and rear their progeny with comparatively 

 few mishaps. As a nesting-place they will prefer a nest-box or a German cage to an entirely 

 self-made construction ; and they have been known to lay double the usual number of five pure 

 pinky-white eggs. In my aviary they bred quite unobserved ; and Dr. Russ has collected evidence 

 from other amateurs, according to which the Parson Finch was bred in an aviary occupied by 

 a quarrelsome lot of Weaver-birds. A more curious instance of the strong reproductive instinct 

 of this Finch is mentioned by Dr. Russ. A gentleman in Hamburg had a pair of Parson Finches 

 in an aviary, together with many other small foreign Finches. The Parson Finches and a pair of 

 Amaduvade Finches had nests and eggs in the same part of the aviary, but the Parson Finch 

 hen, finding her own eggs clear, forsook these and her nest, drove the Amaduvade Finches from 

 their eggs in order to hatch them, and finally hatched and reared the young brood of bird.s, scarcely 

 half her own size. 



