DONACOLA PECTORALIS, Gould.
White-breasted Finch.
Amadina pectoralis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 127.
F o r two beautiful specimens o f this entirely new Finch I am indebted to E. Dring, Esq., o f the. Beagle,
who procured them on the north-west coast o f Au stralia: no notes o f their habits o r economy having been
forwarded with the specimens, I am unable to give any particulars respecting them.
In structure and in the general disposition o f its markings, the White-breasted Finch offers a considerable
resemblance to the Donacola castaneotliorace of the eastern coast, and in all probability they are analogues of
each other, in accordance with a law which appears very generally to prevail among the birds o f Australia;
each great division of this vast country having its own peculiar species.
Crown o f the head, all the upper surface and wings delicate greyish brown; the tips o f the wing^coverts
very minutely spotted with white ; tail blackish brown ; throat and ear-coverts glossy blackish p u rp le ; chest
crossed by a band of feathers, black at the base, largely tipped with wh ite ; abdomen and under tail-coverts
vinous g rey ; flanks ornamented with a few feathers similar to those crossing the b r e a s t; bill bluish horn-
colour ; feet flesh-colour.
The figures in the Plate are o f the natural size, and are supposed to represent the two sex es; the principal
figure the male.