SOME USEFUL AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



The Willie-wagtail [Rhipadwa tricolor Viellot). 



Gould's Handbook, vol. I, p. 238, No. 134 ; Leach's Bird Book, p. 125, No. 256. 



While this bird is preening himself in the morning sun his restless blaclc 

 tail is constantly on the wag ; hence his popular name of Willie-wagtail. He 

 is not, however, a true wagtail ; and, though he .somewhat resemhles the- 

 pied-wagtails of Eux'ope in outward appearance and coloration, he is pro- 

 perly a flycatcher, flirting his tail from side to side instead of wagging up 

 and down — the orthodox direction. In the inland districts he is well-knowni 

 under the name of Shepherd's Companion, because there are few .shepherd's: 

 huts in the west where you will not find a pair of these birds. There are 

 always a few about every home station, and they are regular visitors in our 

 suburban gardens and parks. Willie-wagtail is one of the few restless, day- 

 flying birds that talks all through the night, and his chattering note, which 

 the bush children translate as " sweet pretty creature," adds another popular 

 name to this list. He is properly known as the Black-and-white Fantail. 



This little bird has a wide range over the whole of Australia, extending 

 into New Guinea, Aru Islands, Solomon Islands, and New Ireland. He i» 

 one of our most active insectivorous birds, following sheep about when feed- 

 ing, and snapping up the moths, flies, and other small insects that the flock 

 disturbs, hopping on and off the backs of hoi'ses and cattle (which he uses as 

 stations of observation for moving insects) and picking the parasites and fliesi 

 that infest the animals' skin. In the garden he is just as busy ; while 

 he is also one of the few native birds that I have observed hunting round 

 dead animals for blow-flies. Like many of their group, these birds are dainty 

 artificers, constructing a beautiful, soft, cup-shaped nest composed of grass^ 

 bits of bark, wool, hair, and any other suitable material they come across.. 

 This mass is delicately woven into a soft-felted mass, and bound all over and 

 around with spiders' web, so that when the labours of the builders are finished 

 the nest is so neatly attached to its limb that it has no angles or sharp out- 

 lines. Indeed, it blends into the surroundings so completely that the casual 

 observer would scarcely suspect it was a nest, and would pass it quite closely 

 under the impression that it was simply a natural excrescence on the tree's 

 limb. The nest is very often placed on a dead limb standing out from a 

 living tree, frequently .so low that one can see the mother snuggled down 

 with the tip of her tail and her beak extending beyond the rim of the nest. 



The eggs are four in number, oval, and broadly rounded at one end ; they 

 are of dull yellowish- white, marked and spotted with an olive and grey band 

 round the upper half. Campbell confirms the statement that the Willie- 

 wagtail sometimes rears three broods of nestlings in a season — so they cer- 

 tainly ought to be considered " good Australians." 



For their size the birds are good fighters, and will drive larger ones away 

 from their nests. On a lawn in the Botanic Gardens last summer I 

 watched one attack a stray cat that crawled out from some bushes to 



