THE PIED FANTAIL 85 



The Little Wood Robin. 

 Miro dannefordi. 



Jet black, the wings brownish. Legs and feet black, the soles bright 

 orange, as is also the rictal membrane of the mouth. Eye black. 

 Length of the wing, 2.75 in.; of the tarsus, 0.9 in. The Snares (south 

 of New Zealand). 



Family Miiscicapidae. 



The fly-catehers form a group of small birds with a well-marked 

 notch on the bill, nnmerons bristles ronnd the month, and weak 

 legs and feet. They are fonnd only in the eastern hemisphere, 

 being replaced in America by the tyrant-flj^catchers. 



Genus Ehipidura. 



Wings very short, the first primary abont one-half the length 

 of the second, which is equal to the secondaries. Tail very long, 

 and rounded at the end. the two centre feathere only slightly 

 longer than the next. Bill broad at the base, shorter than the 

 mouth bristles. Tarsi scutellate. From India through the 

 Malayan Archipelago to Australia and Polynesia. 



The Pied Fantail. — Tiwakawaka. 

 Bhipidura jiabellifera. 



Head and neck blackish grey, with white throat and eyebrows. The- 

 back brown, the breast and abdomen yellowish rufous. The two middle 

 tail feathers black with white tips, the outer ones white, the inter- 

 mediate white with the outer webs partly black, all the shafts white. 

 Eye black. Length of the wing, 3 in.; of the tarsus, 0.7 in. The sexes 

 are similar. In the young, the upper surface is more or less shaded with 

 rufous, and the lower surface with tawny. Egg — White with brownish 

 grey spots towards the larger end; length, 0.7 in. Both Islands and the 

 Chatham Islands. 



Everybody admits that the fantails are among the prettiest 

 and most engaging birds New Zealand possesses. There are two 

 species, and their habits are \ery nnich alike, so that what is 

 said of the pied fantail iwaj be applied to the black fantail. 



