PLATE XX X .VTTT 



GENUS SEISURA ( Vig. and Horsf.) 



AGRExiT resemblance exists between the members of this genus and the Rhipidurte, the difference 

 being principally in the structure. 



SEISUKA I N QUIET A. 



RESTLESS FLYCATCHER. 



IN nearly every part of Australia, except the north coast, this bird is found in considerable abundance, 

 both in the forests and in the thickets and brushes. 



Its food consists of insects, sometimes captured in the air, and at other times procured from 

 the ground. For the latter purpose it hovers in the air at a short distance from the earth, and on 

 perceiving an insect darts down upon it. The peculiar noise which it emits during the whole of this 

 performance, and which exactly resembles the sound of a knife-grinder's machine, has procured for it 

 the popular name of " Grinder." Generally, when flying, it utters a harsh and unmusical note, and 

 sometimes a loud whistle. 



During the spring months a cup-shaped nest is built of grass, lined with firie fibres and 

 feathers, the structure being placed on a branch of a large tree. Either two or three eggs are laid, 

 in length nine lines and a half, and in breadth seven lines. They are dull white in colour, with a 

 zone of reddish-brown spots round the middle. 



There is next to no difference in the external appearance of the sexes. 



The head and upper surface are black ; wings and tail, dark brown : under surface, greyish- 

 white ; irides, bill, legs, and feet, black. 



Habitats : New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, and the southern 

 part of Queensland. 



GENUS PIEZORHYNCHUS (Gould). 



USTRALIA possesses one bird of this form, several other members of which are found in the 

 Aru Islands and others adjacent. 



