FINE FEATHERS AND FINE BIRDS 145 



melodious "Be-quick." Betimes he went too close, 

 whereupon a sharp, unladylike peck helped to cool 

 his ardor. Antagonism added to indifference was 

 too much for the proud wooer; he discontinued his 

 advances shortly afterwards, and, when the saucy 

 grey bird flew off, he simply sat preening his golden 

 feathers, and did not attempt to follow. 



Possibly the lady Disdain returned to look for 

 the gay cavalier when a realisation of her loss 

 dawned upon her, but, again I say this quite 

 seriously the incident may have been only a pass- 

 ing flirtation. If the Whistlers are at all consistent 

 in the apparent separation of the sexes during the 

 cool months, one would hardly expect them to pair 

 up as early as June. In Queensland I have seen two 

 beauteous male birds calling each other strange 

 names over the one untroubled female, but that was 

 near the end of July. 



Leaving the birds of the golden breast, chief 

 among other members of the clan, in point of wide 

 distribution as well as in brightness of voice and 

 plumage, is the familiar, sprightly, and altogether 

 lovable bird known as the Rufous-breasted Whistler. 

 As in the case of its regent-breasted relatives, the 

 name has purely to do with the male bird, the grey- 

 clad female receiving it only as a matter of form. 

 Nor are there other Rufous-breasts to dispute the 

 title, the nearest relative being P. falcata, a Whistler 

 of the extreme north, which possesses the same 

 color scheme, but of a much duller quality. For the 

 rest, the Rufous-breast is the same in every State 

 in Australia, but, strangely enough, Tasmania is ex- 

 cluded from its itinerary. Albeit much more defi- 



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