INSECT-DESTEOYING BIRDS. 149 



CHAPTER LXVIL 



THE RESTLESS FLYCATCHER. 



i^Seisura inquieta^ Latham.^ 



This valuable insect -destroying bird is fairly common 

 in many parts of Victoria, and the figure on plate will 

 enable any one to recognise it at a glance. In describing 

 the nest and eggs of this bird, Mr. North says — " The 

 nest of this Flycatcher, like those of most of the family, 

 is round and cup shaped, 2^ to 3 inches across by 1:1 

 deep, and placed upon a horizontal bough over a fork, or 

 by the side of an upright twig ; it is chiefly composed of 

 bark and grass neatly interwoven ; the lining is of grass, 

 hair, or roots, and the edges often ornamented with lichen 

 fastened on by cobweb. It is usually placed at a con- 

 siderable distance from the ground, and often near the 

 end of a dead bouo-h. The eo;2:s are two or three in 

 number, from 9 to 10 1 lines in length by 1\ in breadth, 

 rather rounded in form, having the ground colour of a 

 dull white stained with spots and blotches of dull chest- 

 nut brown and greyish lilac, the latter appearing as if 

 beneath the surface. In most of the specimens the spots 

 form only a distinct zone near the larger end, but in some 

 are sprinkled over the whole surface. The birds are for 

 the most part found breeding in October, November, and 

 December, but sometimes earlier or later. They have two 

 broods in the year." 



According to Gould — " This species ranges over the 

 whole of the southern portion of the Australian con- 

 tinent (Mr. North records it as far north as Rockingham 

 Bay, Northern Queensland), and appears to be as 

 numerous in many parts of Western Australia as it is in 

 New South Wales, where it may be said to be universally 

 distributed, for I observed it in every part I visited, both 

 among the brushes as well as in the more open parts of 



