SOME USEFUL AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 23 



back chattering to his resting place, frequently flirting his tail backwards 

 .and forwards to show the outer white feathers that contrast with his uniform, 

 dull-brown tints. 



This little bird has a wide range over the greater portion of New South 

 Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Queensland. It makes a small, shallow 

 nest of fine grass, matted together- with spiders' web, and ornamented with 

 bits of bark and lichen. The nest is usually placed at the end of a 

 horizontal branch, and contains two (rarely three) greyish-blue eggs, blotched 

 with reddish-brown and purple. The note of this bird, particularly when 

 busy or excited, is translated by our school children as "Peter, Peter," so 

 that he is sometimes called after his call note, instead of Jacky-winter. 

 Some half-dozen other common names indicate his popularity with the 

 children. 



The Grinder or Restless Flycatcher (Sisura inquieta, Latham). 



Gould's Handbook, vol. I, p. 216, No. 141 ; Leach's Bird Book, p. 125, No. 259. 



This busy and fussy flycatcher might at first sight be taken for the Willie- 

 wagtail, but observation of the two together would soon make plain a difference. 

 The Grinder is more slender in form, with the whole of the under surface 

 right to the beak, white, while the throat of the Willie-wagtail is black ; 

 the whole of the former's upper surface is, too, a shining glossy black, and 

 when hovering and emitting its harsh grinding note it erects the feathers on 

 Its head into a regular crest. The female is not so richly tinted, her wings 

 and sides being of a rusty-brown. 



About a house, these birds often hover for some time in front of a window, 

 uttering their harsh cry. At a station hom'estead a lady told me that if she 

 left her bedroom window open, one used to come regularly into the room and 

 hover in front of the looking-glass on the dressing table, chattering away at 

 Ms own reflection. This species has a wide range over the greater part of 

 Australia with the exception of the tropical north, and frequents all classes of 

 country ; it is a very active hunter of small insects, catching its food on the 

 ground, or hovering in the air with a rapid motion of the wings like one of 

 our wind-hover hawks. Specimens shot in the Trangie district in the early 

 summer were found to have been feeding upon blow-flies belonging to the 

 yellow and green varieties. Their stomachs were packed with the remains. 



The Grinder's usual note is a loud l^rsh call (from which it gets its popular 

 name of Grinder or Scissors-grinder), but it sometimes emits a loud, clear 

 whistle. When hovering it comes down very quickly to the ground to 

 pick up any stray insect. Gilbert recorded it as plentiful in Western Aus- 

 tralia, where it frequented the mangroves and scrubs, making, while feeding 

 on the ground, a call like the croak of a frog. It builds a small cup-shaped 

 nest composed of stringy-bark fibre and cobwebs mixed together, and closely 

 lined. The nest contains a pair of bluish-white eggs, blotched and spotted 

 jail over with olive and greyish-brown. 



