THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
DiSTRiBTJTioisr. Northern Australia from the Fitzroy River, North-west Australia to 
Mid-west Australia ; Queensland and New South Wales. 
Adult male. Crown and back of the head greyish-black ; side's of the neck, upper mantle 
and neck smoky-grey ; lower mantle dull cannme fringed with dark grey; rumu 
smoky-grey; upper tail-coverts bright carmine-red ; middle tail-feathers long and 
pointed and of a duU carmine ; outennost tail-feathers blackish-brown on the 
inner webs and dull carmine on the whole of the outer webs; primaries ash-grey 
with the outer web olive; secondaries similar in colour to the mantle • lores 
feathers over the eyes, cheeks and ear-coverts dull crimson; throat, chest and 
sides of the body duU carmine, the feathers of the sides of the breast with a pearl- 
white spot on the middle; belly, abdomen and under tail-coverts smoky-black • 
under-surface of the wings ash-grey^ margined on the inner web with pale isabelline! 
Eyes light yellowish-brown; feet and legs pale yellow, tinged with brown • bill 
red. Total length 144 mm. ; cuhnen 11, wing 52, tail 65, tarsus 15. Figured. 
Collected on the Fitzroy River, North-west Australia, on the 18th of July, 19ii 
and is the type of fitzroyi. 
Adult female. Fore-head, crown, sides of the neck, mantle, back and rump smoky-grey, 
with a few scattered dull carmine feathers on the lownr back ; innermost secondaries 
dull carmine, marguied with dull olive; primaries and outermost secondaries 
ash-grey, margined oir the oirter web w ith olive and on the basal part of the inner 
web with creamy-white; upper tad-coverts dull crimson; tail-feathers dull 
crimsoir, the outermost pair greyish-olive on the imier web; lores, feathers above 
the eyes, cheeks, ear-coverts, sides of the face and clihr carmine-red; lower tluoat 
and chest smoky-grey ; sides of the body smoky-grey suffused with carmine, and 
with small pearl-wiiite spots scattered over the sides; middle of the breast, belly, 
abdomen and mider tail-coverts pale isabeUine; under-surface of wings greydsh- 
ash, narrowly margined on the iimer web with greyish-w'hite. Eyes light brown, 
feet olive-brown, tarsi light y^ellows bill red. Total length 120 mm. ; culmen 10, 
wing 53, tail 54, tarsus 16. Figured. Collected at the same time and place as 
the male. 
Eggs. Five to eight eggs form the clutch. A clutch of seven taken at Napier Broome Bay, 
North-western Australia, on the 27th of March, 1910, is pure white. Bounded 
ovals in shape. Surface of shell fine, smooth, and slightly glossy. 16-16 bv 
11-12 mm. 
Nest. The usual bottle-shaped structm-e. Composed of dried grasses, bark, and leaves; 
lined with grass, leaves and feathers, and sometimes fur. Placed in long grass, 
or in a bush or tree, and sometimes placed as high as 25 feet from the ground in a 
’tree, and often in the top of a Pandanus Palm. 
Breeding-months. August to December, and often as late as March, April and May. 
'rms extraordinary Finch was discovered at Raffles Bay, Northern Territory, 
by tlie French scientists Hombron and Jacquinot on board the “ Astrolabe ” 
and “ Zel6e.” Theyr described it in a Uttle paper read before the Paris 
Academy of Sciences and thus anticipated Gilbert’s chscoverj' of it at Port 
Essington very shortly'' afterw'ards. Gould records Gilbert’s notes : “ This 
bird is an inhabitant of moist, gi'assy meadows, particularly where the 
Pandanus (Screw Pine) is abundant. It is generally found feeding among the 
grass, and when disturbed invariably takes to those trees. From July to 
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