Teresa Michelsen writes:

> It was a small (goldfinch-sized?) tan/grey bird, with a BRIGHT PINK
> finch-like bill, large orange cheek patches, a black and white barred tail,
> and brown stripes along its sides, below the wings.
>
> It seemed quite at home in my yard, perching on the blackberries, and
> pecking at the thistles! Let me know if you have any ideas...

I would vote for some kind of Astrildidae.

Sorry, I cannot be more precise, I've only seen these guys in books (I don't
go to pet stores very often :-), and it's a long time ago.

--
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A bird in the bush is better than two in the hand.

Serge Le Huitouze Intelligent Software Group
email: serge at cs.sfu.ca School of Computing Science
tel: (604) 291-5423 Simon Fraser University
fax: (604) 291-3045 Burnaby, B.C., V5A 1S6 CANADA