168 PLOCEID«. 



grasses, having an opening at one end partly concealed by long 

 grasses drawn over the entrance. It is placed among the stronger 

 grasses, or small bushes which grow here and there on the grass 

 flats or among the leaves of the Pandanus aquaticus. The eggs 

 are five or six in number, in length from 0'6 inch to 0'64 inch ; 

 diameter at the larger end from 0-44 to 0'46 inch. The shell is 

 white outside, with a faint greenish tinge inside." {Bcmisa/y, 



P.L.S., ]\r.s.w., Vol. ii., p. 111.) 



ffab. Gulf of Carpentaria. 



^ POEPHILA MIRABILIS, Homhron et Jacquinot. 

 (P. gouldice, Gould ; Black-headed phase.) 

 {P. armitiana, B.amsay ; Yellow-headed phase.) 

 Crimson-headed Grass-Finch.. 

 Gould, Handhk. Bds. Aust., Yol. i., sp. 260, p. 421. , 



The nest of this species, like that of 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. A set measures as follows : — 

 length (A) 0-72 x 0-48 inch ; (B) 0-69 x 0-49 inch ; (C) 0-68 x 

 0-48 inch ; (D) 0-7 x 0-47 inch ; (E) 0-69 x 0-47 inch. 



Far. P. GOULDi^, Gould. 



Gould, Handhk. Bds. Aust., Yol. i., sp. 259, p. 420. 



In its nidification and eggs, this variety is precisely similar, in 

 fact it has been recently proved that it is only a black-headed 

 phase of P. mirahilis, the females of both being very similar to 

 the males of P. gouldice, and can only be distinguished outwardly 

 by their duller colours. In the aviary at the Museum, both 

 phases have paired. Eggs from the black-headed phase are white, 

 and measure as follows : — length (A) 0-66 x 0-5 inch ; (B) 0'65 x 

 0-49 inch ; (C) 0'68 x 0-49 inch ; (D) 0-64 x 0-48 inch ; (E) 0-68 

 X 0-47 inch. 



