WHITE-BREASTED FINCH (PICTORELLA). 
H 
greyish-aah margined on the inner web with pinkish-buff. Eyes brown, legs brown, 
bill blue-horn. Total length 126 nxm. ; cvdmen 10, wing 62, tail 39, tarsus 16. 
Figured. Collected on Eureka, Northern Territory. 
Adtdt female. Similar to the adult male. 
Adidt male, Hoad, neck and upper mantle bght brown, washed with grey ; lower mantle, 
back, rump and upper tail-coverts ash-brown; wing-coverts ash-brown with a 
small spot at tlie extremity; primaries and secondaries ash-brown, margined on 
the inner web with isabelline ; tail brownish-black; lores, sides of the face, cheeks, 
ear-coverts and tlnoat black, glossed \vilh purple, with a few scattered white 
spots ; chest dull brownish-pink with a submarginal Ijand of black, and with a 
broad tip of silvery-white feathers ; remainder of tlie imder-parts rich pinkish- 
buff with twin spots of wdiite on the sides of the body ; under tail-coverts with 
a submarginal band of blackish-browrr; under-surface of wing greyish-ash, 
margined on the inner web with pinkish-buff. Eyes browi, feet light brown, 
bill blue-grey. Total length 118 ram. ; culmen 10, wing 60, tail 37, tarsus 17. 
Figiued. Collected on Alexandria, Eastern Northern Territory, on the 2nd of 
January, 1906, and is darker than the Eureka bird, and is the type of incerta. 
Nearly adtdt. General coloui* of the upper-parts, including the wings and tail, mouse- 
brown powdered with grey; wing-coverts and secondaries darker with small 
roxmd spots and markings of white; cheeks and ear-coverts brown with scattered 
feathers of brownish-black; cliin and throat black, the former with a few white 
spots; lower throat and chest blackish-brown, each feather broadly and evenly 
barred at the extremity with white; remainder of the imder-parts, including the 
sides and flanks, isabelline suffused with dull pink ; under-surface of flight-feathers 
brownish-grey, margined on the imier web wdth isabelline. Eyes brown, feet 
and tarsus pale brown, bill leaden-blue. Collected on Parry’s Creek, North¬ 
west Australia, on the 21st of November, 1908. 
Immature. Top of the head, back of the neck, mantle and lownr back reddish-brown, 
with a few scattered grey feathers making their appearance; wing-coverts, 
scapulars, rump and upper tail-coverts brown powdered with grey; tail-feathers 
brownish-black, lighter at their extremity ; throat brownish-grey, with a few 
black feathers making their appearance ; feathers of the chest black at the base 
wnth large semi-circular spots of pearly-white; remainder of under-surface, 
including the sides of the body and imder tail-coverts, buffy-pinlc; inner lining of 
quills browaiish-grey, margined with isabelline. E^'es dark brown, feet and tarsus 
pale brown, bill pale blue-grey. Collected on Parry’s Creek, North-west Australia, 
on the 16th of November, 1908. 
Eggs, Four to six eggs form the clutch. A clutch of six eggs taken at Brunnette Downs, 
Northern Territory, on the 20th of March, 1913, is of a pure white. Swollen ovals 
in shape. Suiiace of shell fine and smooth, and possessing a sliglit trace of gloss. 
17 by 12 mm. 
Nest. A large bottle-shaped structure, composed of dried grass stems, and frequently 
placed in a tussock of grass. 
Breeding-moTUhs, July to end of December, and often as late as March and April. 
Gould wrote : “ For two beautiful specimens of this entirely new Finch I am 
indebted to E. Dring, Esq., of the ‘ Beagle,’ who procured them on the north¬ 
west coast of Austraha; no notes of their habits or economy having 
been forwarded with the specimens, I am imable to give any particulars 
respecting them.” 
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