INSESSORES. 239 



at one moment mounting almost perpendicularly, constantly- 

 spreading out its tail to the full extent, and frequently 

 tumbling completely over in the descent ; at another it may 

 be seen flitting through the branches, and seeking for insects 

 among the flowers and leaves, repeatedly uttering a sweet 

 twittering song. 



This Fantail is rather a late breeder, scarcely ever com- 

 mencing before October, during which and the three follow- 

 ing months it rears two and often three broods. Its elegant 

 little nest, closely resembling a wine-glass in shape, is woven 

 together with exquisite skill, and is generally composed of 

 the inner bark of a species of Eucalyptus, neatly lined with 

 the down of the tree-fern intermingled with flowering stalks 

 of moss, and outwardly matted together with the webs of 

 spiders, which not only serve to envelope the nest, but are 

 also employed to strengthen its attachment to the branch on 

 which it is constructed. The situation of the nest is much 

 varied : I have observed it in the midst of dense brushes, in 

 the more open forest, and placed on a branch overhanging a 

 mountain rivulet, but at all times within a few feet of the 

 ground. The eggs are invariably two in number, seven lines 

 long ; their ground-colour white, blotched all over, but par- 

 ticularly at the larger end, with brown slightly tinged with 

 olive : the young from the nest assume so closely the colour 

 and appearance of the adults, that they are only to be distin- 

 guished by the secondaries and wing-coverts being margined 

 with brown, a feature lost after the first moult. The adults 

 are so precisely alike, that actual dissection is necessary to 

 determine the sexes. 



In its disposition this little bird is one of the tamest 

 imaginable, allowing of a near approach without evincing the 

 slightest timidity, and will even enter the houses of persons 

 resident in the bush in pursuit of gnats and other insects. 

 During the breeding-season, however, it exhibits extreme, 

 anxiety at the sight of an intruder in the vicinity of its nest. 



