BIRDS OF OUR BUSH 



reach of prying eyes. The picture mentioned is one of 

 the results of this exploit. It is not the only one, either, 

 as first of all a clumsy cow, and, later, a dog, became en- 

 tangled in our cotton, and made pictures of a bare stone. 

 With the male bird we were able to take any number of 

 liberties: we could have photographed it feeding the young 

 birds on our hands. The female, however, quite unlike 

 most of her sex, thought more of her own safety than that 

 of the young ones, and kept in the background. The photo- 

 graph again illustrates the defectiveness of photography 

 where colours are concerned. The photographic plate has 

 failed to convey any idea that the breast of the bird is a 

 beautiful flame red. 



By the time we had satisfied our desire for pictures we 

 had succeeded in forgiving our persecutor of a few days 

 before, and had decided, as he was apparently a kindred 

 spirit so far as bird protection was concerned, to beard him 

 in his den. We found him friendly — much more so than 

 our first experience indicated. Our visit resulted in an 

 hour's yarn with a fine Nature-lover. Of the other species 

 of Robin, the Black and White, we have had little experience. 



The females of the species of Robins described bear 

 considerable resemblance to both male and female Brown 

 Flycatcher, a small grey bird variously known as Stump 

 Bird, Jacky Winter, and Peter Peter. The first of these 

 popular names has its origin in a habit the species has of 

 using a stump or a fence post as a look-out for unfortunate 

 passing insects. When one of these of tempting proportions 

 enters into the field of vision of the Flycatcher, he leaves 

 his post, never fails to capture the wanderer, and then 

 either returns to the post from whence he came or chooses 

 another near by. When he is at rest on a stump or post the 

 tail swings from side to side almost continuously — much as 

 the tail of a domestic cat swings with annoyance. 



The Brown Flycatcher is a quiet bird, capable neverthe- 

 less of a rather pleasant little song. Its nest is a very 

 dainty structure, built of bark, and covered with cobwebs. 

 Its sides are raised only sufficiently to prevent the eggs from 

 rolling out. The shallow nature of the nest probably 

 accounts for the fact that the bird invariably chooses a 

 fairly large and stable branch as the foundation for. its 

 home. The picture appearing on page 133 will give a fair 



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