felMli^
PAINTED- FINCH. S.?.
= H E PAiM", E D FINCH.
/VJ pkhi, GfiULD.
' T T ^ H H E Paiuted Finch is a irnt iiM • ••
of Northern arni Central Australia and, thougn
seldom ¡inpo!;l,ed hitl-.Tto. i
• a very beautiful specie.?. The general colouring
of the upper .siirfpce of ilic iH,-
hinder back and upper tail-C'veif
with ^f:irlet ou the margins , the
eve and tlie front of. th.e chc ks
s pale brown, the fl:gbl-fc.atliers darker ; the
jright scarlet ; the tail-feathers blacki.-ih. tinged
. a narrow eyebrow, the featliers. below the
arlet • the throat and under surface of body
black, but a few feathers tipp^i xa^u scarlet on the chin and front of throat;
the centre of the neck and clic- al: sc;irlet ; breast and abdomen spotted with
white at the sides; the flanks ; u.'iiler wing-coverts yellowish, under tailcoverts
black. Length 4; iuclie-. I pper mandible black, tipped with scarlet,
lower mandible scarlet, with a bU-c patch at the base.
The hen is very similar, but JKIS no scarlet on the cheel. S or throat ; the
latter, as well as the front m the tieck, black, spotted with white, the under
surface of the body browner and more plentifully spotted with white, the breast
with only a tinge of scarlet. Length 4 inches
Herr Wienér says that, in 1869, he had 'iccasion to eitiphn' a journeyman
wire-workci who, one da}- spoke to him of "'Jttlian Finches." PTe prriceed.s as
follows:—"They proved to be a pair of Paij'ted Finches, and were pru'bo.bh' the
first ever brought dive to Europe. I purchased their, as a matter of course, and
kept them for a little while. Again, in 1873, I heard sv.^icn in Liverpool that a
hairdresser ru one of the most elegant streets of w;-.- town had a number of
foreigii birds." "In the luiirdresser's stock L-f bir,;-. 1 -iaw, to ¡ny astoni.shment,
a pair of Evibkma pietà, which their owner was pleo.sed fo call "Australian
Mountain Diamond Sparrows." I left Li'^erpool witlj the prize in my possession,
and have wished ever since I liad kiiovvu then what I know now, about the best
and safest treatment of rare Australian Finches."
" .A few years later, in 1877, I paid one of my periodical visits to Mr.
y! !
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