GRASSQUIT, the name ap plied to small finches of the gen era Sporophila and Tiaris com mon in tropical and sub-tropical America and the West Indies. One species, S. snorelleti, offi cially named Sharpe's seed-eater, ranges into the United States as far as south-eastern Texas, and two others, T. bicolor and T. can ora, the melodious grassquit, oc cur as stragglers. The birds are about 4 in. long, dull coloured and without song. They feed on seeds.
(Xanthorrhoea hastilis), a well-known Aus tralian plant, also called black-boy. It belongs to the family Liliaceae, and has the habit of an aloe, with a long spike of flowers superficially resembling that of the bulrush. A resin is obtained from the bases of the old leaves.