12 
COMMON GROSS-BEAK. 
(PI. XII.) 
BEAK Conical and very gross; the forehead a little bald; the lower mandible bent a little 
inwards 
NOSTRILS at the base of the beak. 
TONGUE as if cut off at the end. 
TOES placed three before and one behind. 
LENGTH 
Four inches and a half; bill three-eighths, and scarlet, with a black stripe on upper 
and under mandible ; eye red ; lashes black ; from the base of the bill above the eye 
to the hind head a stripe of scarlet ; crown, hind head, and cheek, dark grey ; hack 
part of neck, shoulder, back, and wing, brownish olive ; rump and tail coverts 
crimson ; tail black, lightly bound with small cross bars, and cuneiform; chin, 
throat, breast, and side of the belly and vent, light grey; belly oker ; legs and claws 
pale oker. 
INHABITS 
Barren tracts near Sydney and Paramatta. They go in large flocks in autumn and 
in spring, separate into pairs, and build, in low bushes, an oval-shaped nest of dead 
glass, lined with down of sowthistle ; lay five or six eggs, of a pale flesh colour, 
spotted with dull red. The male has a pleasant song. Are subject to fits. 
