o?i Nesting of Yellow-rutnped and Chestnut-breasted Finches. 115


His letter is written from " Lyncornbe Hill, Bath," under

date October 8th, and runs as follows : —


" In reply to your favour we have much pleasure in

"supplying you with a few facts regarding the Yellow-rumped

" Finch. This bird has been known only a few years. During

"our twenty-five years of collecting in the whole of Australia

" it was not until five years ago that we found this finch. We

"firmly believe that this bird is a distinct species from the

" Chestnut Finch — because the Yellow-rump is purely a desert

" bird and only comes to the parts where the Chestnut Finches

" congregate when it is an exceptionally dry season. It lives

"chiefly in the Northern Territories — about 300 miles from our

".headquarters (Wyudham). Until last year we were never

" successful in catching more than ten pairs, but last year they

" were very plentiful. We brought to England 500 pairs and, if

" we liked, could have brought 5,000. But in the trapping they

" kept to themselves and we very seldom found many other birds

" in the same nets. If any, it was generally Pectoralis. We have

" quite a dozen of these dark-throated birds and firmly believe it

" is only a freak that this mark should appear. We are of

" opinion that the dark patch increases in size after each moult-

" ing. Some of our birds not only have the dark patch but also

" the bar across the chest.


"Now the Chestnut Finch is a bird that is scattered all

"over Australia, but is always rare where the Yellow-rumped

"Finch is found. This is why we think them distinct species.


"The first five pairs we brought to England were sold to ;


" we also sold one pair at Genoa together with a pair of Emblema

" picta and a pair of Yellow-headed Gouldians. Truly this was a

" rare trio ! The Yellow-rump is as little known in Australia as

" it is in England. Up till three years ago there was only one

" Museum in Australia that possessed a skin, and that was the

" Perth Museum. We find that this is the hardiest of all

" Australian birds.


" As we said before, there is so little known of this bird

"that time will have to elapse before the 'mystery' will be

" cleared. There are birds in Australia that take two and

" three years to get their true colours. We sold a pair— of^



