The Diamond Finch. 
the laying of tlie last egg of the clutch) thirteen days; but 
these birds arc not ideal sitters or feeders, and but few young 
are fully reared, in comparison with the nunil)er of eggs laid or 
chicks luitclied, yet the )iuniber of infertile eggs has been smaller 
than with any species I have kept — in one respect tliey resemble 
the Red-headed Finch {AdukHiki erythroccphala), that is the 
numbei- of chicks dead in shell. 
In my aviary they ate heartily of canary, white millet, 
spray millet, paddy rice, oats, and sunflower seeds, the three 
first being taken in greatest quantity. They took but little 
of the insectile mixture, and were not very keen on preserved 
ants' " eggs," but were always on hand for live bait — meal- 
worms, gentles, wasps' grubs or smooth caterpillars — anJ 
greenfood, especially seeding grasses, and other weeds and on 
the above the young were i-eared — fifteen from as many as ten 
nests covering a period of four years, 181*1 to 1895. 
is not a dumb species, but they have no song, and 
iheir call-note is very plaintive — some find it unpleasing, but 
my untrained ear has not found it so. It certainly is an in- 
teresting as well as a beautiful species — its love dance, if 
ludicrous, as it certainly is to the human eye, is intensely in- 
teresting, as is their wliole demeanour, and there is no bird, 
howevei brilliant it may be, that attracts more attention from 
visitors than the Diamond or tSpotted-sided Finch, and per- 
sonally 1 am of tlie opinion thai it merits all the attention it 
receives. 
Might I urge upon all my readers who possess this 
species, to give it every chance of reproducing its kind, by 
giving it plenty of room and not interfering with them in any 
way — undue curiositj', etc. (What tales — not complimentary — 
would be told of their owners if tliis and other species only 
spoke the English language). Also by exchanging the progeny 
with other successful breeders. (Space in " B.N." will be 
given for this purpose), that there may be no inbreeding, and 
the .species, secured to English aviculture, if not permanently, 
for as long a period as possible — I would also urge that the 
same procedure be adopted with all species of Australian 
Finches. 
1 have not found the Diamond Finch troublesome or 
pugnacious in a mixed .series, on the other hand he is beautiful, 
