BIRDS OF OUR BUSH 



she would snatch the dainties back with the indignation of 

 a petulant child. Sometimes this form of amusement was 

 continued for a considerable time, until the mauled and 

 mangled state of the erstwhile spider made further inter- 

 ference unpleasant. There are few scenes upon which 

 we look back with greater pleasure than on our experiences 

 of the Pilot Birds. They suffered by our presence, more- 

 over, nothing more serious than annoyance. 



The appearance of the Pilot Bird will be gathered some- 

 what from the picture appearing in this book. Its colour 

 is a warm chocolate brown, well calculated to escape atten- 

 tion in the darkness of the mountain gully. It works in 

 and out amongst the small ferns and through patches of 

 sword grass in very much the same manner as the Scrub 

 Wren operates in more open country. As a matter of fact 

 we have been struck by the similarity in many respects 

 between the two species. The Pilot Bird flies little, but 

 proceeds over the ground by a series of hops, unmistakable 

 when once witnessed. 



The nest also is not unlike that of the Scrub Wren. That 

 of the present species is built usually of coarse grass and 

 lined warmly with feathers and fur. The two eggs are of a 

 slaty-brown ground colour, with indistinct darker markings 

 around the broad end. 



A much more common bird of the Mountain gully is the 

 Rufous Fantail, a species much resembling, in size and 

 habits, the White-shafted Fantail already dealt with. But 

 while the White-shafted Fantail prefers the streamside 

 growth in open country, the Rufous species nests almost 

 invariably within hearing of a mountain stream. 



The nests of the two species are very much alike, as a 

 comparison of the pictures on pages 173 and 201 will show, 

 but in colour the birds are somewhat dissimilar. The 

 upper plumage of the Rufous Fantail is warm brown in 

 general appearance, but the forehead and lower back are 

 rust red. The throat is white, and the underparts a 

 neutral grey. 



The Rufous Fantail is not nearly as well-known as the 

 White-shafted, and we were fortunate to locate a nest in a 

 position whe^e the light was fairly bright. Some idea of 

 the class of locality selected by the species will be gathered 

 from the picture appearing on page 59. The nest contained 

 two eggs, for whose safety the birds were much concerned, 



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