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B I C H E N O ' S FINCH,
Stuiopta-a bichcnovH, V i G . & Ho r s f .
is an inhabitant of Australia, and uiifortuiiately is miicli less frequently
imported than it ought to be, considering what a pretty and altogether
pleasing cage-bird it is ; on this account it is correspondingly expensive. Gould
considered Bicheno's Finch to be an Astrild ; but I ha\-e always thought it far more
like a Grass-Finch ; therefore, as Dr. Sharpe has placed it among the latter, I have
been ver^- willing to follow his lead.
The male bird above is pale brown, with sliglitl_y darker traverse bars on the
feathers; upper tail co^-erts fldiite, preceded on the croup by a black bar; greater
wing-co^•erts and flight-feathers blackish, spotted ^\-ith ^\-hite ; tail-feathers black ;
the forehead is blackish, continued b}- a line of black ^^•hich borders the sides of thé
cro\\-n and passes behind the ear-coverts downwards and across the lower part of the
throat ; the cheeks and throat are white ; the remainder of the under surface yellowish
A\-hite ; a second black stripe crosses the breast ; the chest slightly greyish, light
brovni at the sides and faintly barred ; under tail-coverts black ; flight-feathers below
duskA-, under wing-coverts _vellowish. Length, 3I inches. Beak and legs bluish
grej- ; iris black.
The female is slightly duller in plumage, and has occasionally narrower bands
on the chest; it is also slimmer, slightl}- smaller, and paler on the crOM-n.
Mr. Gould observes: "This beautiful little Finch inhabits the extensive plains of
the interior, particularl)- such portions of them as are thinly intersected with low
scrubb}- trees and bushes. My specimens were obtained in the Liverpool and Brezi
Plains. As I have had occasion to remark with respect to other species, it will be
impossible to determine the precise extent of its range until Australia has been more
fulh- explored.
The Bicheno's Finch is very tame in its disposition, and is generally to be
obtained on the ground, occupied in procuring the seeds of grasses and other small
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