202 
THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA 
Nest .—A bulky, bottle-shaped structure, composed of dried grasses, 
bark, and leaves ; lined with grass, leaves, and feathers, and sometimes 
fur. Generally built in tall grass, in a bush, or in a pandanus •palm- 
tree. 
Eggs . — Five to eight, white. Breeding-season: August to December, 
and often as late as March, April, and May. 
19. Pale Crimson Finch Neochmia albiv enter Mathews 
al-bi-veri -ter — L., albus , white ; L., venter , belly. 
Distribution .— Northern Queensland (the middle of Cape York 
Peninsula). 
Notes . — Also called White-bellied Crimson Finch. Usually in pairs 
or flocks, frequenting tall grass and pandanus palm-trees bordering water¬ 
courses and swamps. It is similar in habits to the Crimson Finch. Food: 
seeds of grasses and other plants, also termites, which it catches while on 
the wing. 
Nest . — Similar to that of the Crimson Finch. 
Eggs . — Like those of the Crimson Finch, the breeding-period likewise. 
Vigors and Hors- 
20. Golden-headed Fant ail-war bier Cisticola cxilis 
h e ld—20A. Male in winter plumage. 
Cis-tic'-o-la L., cist us, a plant; L„ color e, to inhabit: ex-i-lis — L cxilis 
slender. ’ ' 
m S .r.i?* rfr ?TKr°” , T’A U 5 tra ! ia ( except the south-western portion), Tas- 
S'S3 ISnd;a,S ° occ ; urs m New Guinea, the Molucca Islands, 
-Philippine Islands, Formosa, and south-eastern Asia. 
Corn A bFd' y Tnd 1S °R Ca i lled 1 P aSS ' T W T arb !f r > Fantail-warbler, Exiled Warbler, 
swamiy a^eL hemh ff i irCL , UsUa ^ in pairs - Renting reed-beds! 
but Sftfeakv d u an ? stand,n S grain-crops. It has an animated 
or on a h£h S S ^ mU ' red wh,Ie Parched near the top of a reed, 
or on a high twig. Food : insects of various kinds. 
combed’ M^erv a fin^ me " Shaped st f U( * ure with an entrance near the top, 
together - often seveni^, rasses ’ coa ted with plant down and cobwebs woven 
of ^rstkwtme S arC ?, arefull - v worked to the outer portion 
in a ufd s ’h n V ;' m , down ‘ Genera lly built among tall grass, 
tivated crops ’ ^ sheltered b 7 grass, and frequently in cul- 
reddEhY,wn h or e purnlSh' s P° tted and Notched with 
where a zone VofteS tnJd chiefly on the larger end, 
n toimed. Breeding-season: October to February. 
2 Mea U ?~ e _ GraSS ' bird %9alurus gramineus Gould 
in-e-US. — L., graminms,™^^? 010 ^ ’ Iarge; Gk) ura ( oura )> tall: gram- 
to Tasmania. -*tia tropical Australia, from north-western Australia 
