TACXIOPYGIA CASTA XOT IS {Gould). 



CHESTNUT-EARED FINCH. 



TI^HIS is one of the smallest and, at the same time, one of the most beautiful of the Pinches yet 

 J- discovered in Australia. 



It is found in the interior, its range extending from the Liverpool Plains to Western 

 Australia, and northward to Port Essington. 



It assembles in small companies, frequenting most those places where the grass is abundant. 



Unlike most of this class of birds, the colouring of the two sexes differ considerably. 



The male has the crown of the head, nape of the neck and back, brownish-grey ; wings, 

 brown ; tail-feathers, white, tipped with dark brown ; ear-coverts, chestnut ; throat and chest, grey, the 

 feathers crossed by lines of black ; a black patch in the middle of the chest ; abdomen, white ; flanks, 

 reddish-chestnut, each feather marked near the tip with an oval spot of white : bill, orange ; irides, 

 brown ; legs and feet, orange. 



The female has the upper surface,, ear-coverts, wings, tail and flanks, greyish-brown : throat 

 and chest, grey ; abdomen, yellowish-brown. 



Total length, 4^ inches; wing, 2^ inches; tail, \\ inch; tarsi, ^ inch. 



Habitat : Interior. 



