Lores, line over the bill and a narrow circle surrounding the eye black; behind the eye a small patch of shining scarlet; all the upper surface olive-brown, crossed by numerous fine irregular crescent-shaped bands of black, which are broadest and most conspicuous on the lower part of the back; wings and tail similarly marked, but with the black bands still broader and more distinct; rump and the margins of the base of the central tail-feathers shining scarlet; throat and breast light brown, crossed by numerous crescent-shaped bands of black; abdomen and under surface black, with a large spot of white near the tip of each feather; irides red; bill bright vermilion, the base of the upper mandible edged with pearl-grey; eyelash greenish blue; legs yellowish grey. The figures are of the natural size. [Illustration: ESTRELDA BICHENOVII. _J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._ ] ESTRELDA BICHENOVII. Bicheno’s Finch. _Fringilla Bichenovii_, Vig. & Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 258.—Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. i. pl. xii. fig. 3. This beautiful little Finch inhabits the extensive plains of the interior, particularly such portions of them as are thinly intersected with low scrubby trees and bushes. The localities in which my specimens were obtained were the Liverpool and Brezi Plains, and I have not yet received it from any other parts of Australia, but this may be attributed rather to the paucity of information respecting the interior than to any other cause; and as I have had occasion to remark with respect to other species, it will be impossible to determine the precise extent of the range of this bird until the country has been more fully explored. The Bicheno’s Finch is very tame in its disposition, and is generally to be observed on the ground, occupied in procuring the seeds of the grasses and other small plants, which form its principal food. At the time of my visit to the interior, which was in the month of December, it was assembled in small flocks of from four to eight in number; these, when flushed from among the grasses, would perch on the neighbouring bushes rather than fly off to any distance, and indeed the form of its wings and tail indicate that it possesses lesser powers of flight than many of the other Finches. I was not fortunate enough to obtain its nest or eggs, neither did I ever hear it utter any kind of song; consequently I am unable to give any information on these points.