70 THE USEFUL BIRDS 



Its habitat is among the hills, where an ample water supply 

 is available throughout the year. 



In summer the birds leave their usual haunts and wander 

 long distances through the underwood in the vicinity of a 

 creek, or even into the neighbouring towns. 



¥/hilst at lunch in a restaurant in the city of Mel- 

 bourne, on 1st March, 1899, I noticed a member of this 

 species enter the lunch room and fly about from picture 

 to picture, amongst the lighter ornaments, and up to 

 and along the ceiling, taking up a fly here and there, 

 of which, to say the least, there was a plentiful supply in 

 the room. 



At this time of the year these birds seem to go on voyages 

 of discovery, for on the same morning I saw one near the 

 shipping wharves at Williamstown, and heard of a second at 

 Ascot Vale. 



Fresh from the country, they possess a brilliant coat of 

 golden yellow, spruce and shining, compelling the admiration 

 of all observers ; in a week's time the carbonized dust 

 changes this brilliancy into a more sober, dull tint. The 

 Sparrows will chirp on as usual, used as they are to the dis- 

 abilities of city life, whilst these poor wanderers will probably 

 reach the Fitzroy Gardens, and there pass their hves in a 

 semi-civilized manner. 



These birds, strange to the city, arrive by following the 

 httle creeklets until they strike the beaches, and then along 

 the beaches, following every little clump of private garden 

 trees, till they are landed in the city proper. 



Occupying similar country we have two species that are 

 much rarer, Myiagra rubecula, Lath., Leaden Fly-catcher, and 

 M. nitida, Gld., Satin Fly-catcher, while a third is compara- 

 tively even more rare, the Spectacled Fly-catcher, Piezo- 

 rhynchus gonldi, Gld. This latter is seen only in the extreme 

 east. 



