63 



No. 37.— Rhipidura flabellifera, Gml. 

 Piwakawaka. 

 Fan-tail. 



The pied Flycatcher seems to prefer proximity to water in selecting its 

 nesting-place, we have noticed it most frequently near a creek, where over- 

 hanging boughs have afforded considerable shade. 



The nest, beautifully made, is very compact, and, from our experience, 

 varies very slightly in shape. The materials are well felted together, moss, grass- 

 bents, fibrous roots, with cobwebs, etc. ; the structure is fixed on some bough 

 or spray, the foundation, very frequently, commences with chips of decayed 

 wood. The prettiest nest we ever found, was on a leaf of the large silver tree- 

 fern (C. dealbata.) (See Plate 4, Fig, 6.) The eggs, four in number, generally 

 are white with brown freckles towards the larger end, 8 lines long, by 6 lines 

 broad. We never found the nest very early in the spring. 



Towards autumn this bird frequents the verandah, enters the house, 

 clearing the rooms of flies, the snapping of the mandibles is plainly heard, as 

 it flits circling round the room. 



R. albiscapa, the fan-tail warbler of Tasmania, builds a nest with a long 

 tail underneath, giving the whole structure a funnel-like appearance. 

 Occasionally, R. flabellifera also builds its home with a long tail, but broader 

 and less artistically finished than that of the R. albiscapa. One nest in our 

 collection has this peculiar appendage, constructed of skeleton leaves and bents 

 of grass, etc. What is its use 1 



No. 38. — Rhipidura fuliginosa, Sparrm. 

 Tiwaikawaka. 

 Black Fan-tail. 



The Black Fan-tail Flycatcher breeds under conditions so very similar to 

 those of the preceding species, that one description will serve for both. To 

 our view, the most remarkable feature in the breeding habits of our Flycatchers 

 is the situation usually selected for rearing their young. Security does not 

 appear to be the first consideration ; security, by concealment, seems the leading 

 feature which guides most arboreal birds in choosing the site for their home, 

 and it is one in which the most admirable displays of instinct may be frequently 

 observed. The Flycatchers rather appear to be led by the same consideration 

 which actuate many sea-birds in selecting the position of their breeding-place, 

 proximity to the food supply. Stroll carefully along the rocky bed of a creek 

 which rambles through some bushy gully, and you may perchance see the 

 beautiful nest perched on some slender bough, in so delicate a manner, that it 

 appears scarcely so much to be fixed, as to rest balanced there. There is no 

 concealment amongst tangled creepers, guarded with their sharp recurved 

 prickles ; it is not buried amidst a mass of waving leaves, nor is it hidden 

 away in the dim twilight of some hollow tree, but there, a few feet above the 

 water, it sways gently with the subdued breeze, that reaches the quiet ravine 

 through the leafy canopy that is spread around. 



In thus placing its nest so obviously in view, one is reminded of its family 

 connections, of the Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa grisola) of the old country, 

 which we used to term the Post bird, from the almost glaring manner in which 

 its unscreened habitation was displayed. But as " there is reason in the 

 roasting of eggs," saith the proverb, so there is also instinct in selecting the 

 place where they shall be laid ; over the shady creek our Flycatcher is in the 

 midst of sandflies, and the position chosen for its nest affords comparatively as 

 good a vantage ground for supplying the wants of its young, as the nesting- 

 place on the craggy mountain side bestows on the dashing Quail-hawk. 



