CHAPTER XL 



Fantails, Thrushes, Silver-eye. 



TWO common Fantails will always be found inhabiting 

 the creek-banks in open country. The ''Willie 

 Wagtail," or the Black and White Fantail — to 

 honour him with his correct title — is the better 

 known. Its rasping note and alternative sweet little song 

 enliven many a bush track. It has a jerky, erratic flight, 

 and the long tail wags the bird at such times as it is not 

 being used to guide it through the air. As its name implies, 

 it is one of our pied birds. The head, back, tail and throat 

 are of a glossy black, while the breast and underparts are 

 snow white. The Restless Flycatcher is almost the double 

 of this species, but difi'ers in that the white beneath is con- 

 tinued the whole length of the bird — right up to the beak. 

 Its call is a peculiar harsh note, from which it receives the 

 name of "Scissors Grinder." 



The nest of the Willie Wagtail is a pretty bowl of bark 

 and grass, built on a horizontal branch, and is covered so 

 closely with cobweb that outwardly little else is visible. The 

 eggs, usually three in number, are of a dirty white ground 

 colour, with a well defined ring of darker stone markings 

 about the larger end. Sometimes this ring slips down, as 

 it were, and appears around the middle or even at the 

 small end of the egg. 



The appearance of an intruder is always the signal for 

 a rasping chorus from nesting birds, and the nest is often 

 more easily discovered in this than in any other way. On 

 one of our trips years ago, we were accompanied by a little 

 dog of nondescript breed. His appearance at once raised 



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