ESTRELDA RUFICAUDA, Gould.
Red-tailed Finch.
Amadim ruficauia, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Spc., Part IV. p. 106; and in Syn. Birds of Australia. Part I.
I o b s e r v e d this beautiful Finch rath er thinly dispersed on the sides of the river Namoi, particularly along
the sloping banks covered with herbage, where i t appeared to be feeding upon such grasses and other
annuals as afforded seeds congenial to its ta s te ; I also frequently observed it among th e rushes which grow
in the beds of mud along the sides of the w a te r; and this, I regret to say, is all the information I have to
communicate respecting it. I t is a species seldom seen in collections, which m ay b e attributed to the
circumstance o f its being strictly confined to the interior, a p art of the country where collections are much
less frequently formed than near the coast. The onlyparts of Australia whence I have received or In which
I have killed it, are the Liverpool Plains, and the banks of the rivers Mokai and Namoi.
The adult male and female are scarcely to be distinguished by outward appearance; the female is, however,
a trifle less than h e r mate in size. The young, on the contrary, present a very different appearattOe;
the whole o f their plumage being o f a uniform bufly brown; eye yellowish olive surrounded by a narrow
olive lash ; bill reddish brown ; legs brownish yellow.
Face and cheeks scarlet, the latter covered with narrow feathers, which are finely spotted with white at
the t ip ; upper surface and wings olive-brown; upper tad-coverts and tail deep crimson-brown, the former
la v in g a large spot o f pinkish white near the tip o f each feather ; throat, chest and flanks delicate olive-
grey, each feather having a large oval white spot transversely disposed near the tip ; centre of the abdomen
and under tail-coverts dirty yellowish w h ite ; biU sc arlet; irides orange slightly inclining to hazel, surrounded
by a rather broad, naked, flesh-coloured lash ; legs and feet rather darker than fine lemon-yellow.
The figures are of the natural size.