_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
RHIPIDURA MOTACILLOÏDES, _Vig. and Horsf._
Black Fantailed Flycatcher.
_Rhipidura Motacilloïdes_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.
p. 248.
_Wil̈-la-ring_, Aborigines of the lowland, and
_Jiẗ-te-jiẗ-te_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
_Wagtail Flycatcher_, of the Colonists of Swan River.
With the exception of Van Diemen’s Land, this bird has been found in
every part of Australia yet visited by Europeans. A slight difference is
observable in the size of the specimens from different localities, those
from New South Wales being the largest and those from Port Essington the
least: the latter may hereafter prove to be specifically distinct.
At the same time that it is one of the most widely diffused, it is also
one of the most tame and familiar of the Australian birds, and
consequently a general favourite; it is constantly about the houses,
gardens and stock yards of the settlers, often running along the backs
and close to the noses of the cattle in order to secure the insects
which are roused and attracted by the heat from their nostrils, along
the roofs of the buildings, the tops of palings, gates, &c.;
constructing its pretty nest beneath the verandah, and even entering the
rooms to capture its insect prey; it passes much of its time on the
ground, over which it runs and darts with the utmost celerity, and when
skirting the stream with tail erect and shaking from side to side, it
presents an appearance very similar to that of the English Black and
White Wagtail (_Motacilla Yarrellii_); the movements of the tails of the
two birds are, however, very different, that of the European being
perpendicular, while that of the Australian is lateral.
Its song, which consists of a few rather loud and shrill notes, is
continually poured forth throughout the entire night, especially if it
be moonlight.
Its flight is at times gracefully undulating, at others it consists of a
series of sudden zigzag starts, but is always of a very short duration;
it never poises itself in the air, like the _Seïsura volitans_, and
never mounts higher than the tops of the trees, appearing to prefer
hopping from tree to tree to flying.
It commences breeding in September and generally rears two or three
broods. Its beautiful deep cup-shaped and compact nest is very often
built on a branch overhanging water, or on the dead limb of a tree
overshadowed by a living branch above it, but the usual and favourite
site is the upper side of a fallen branch without the slightest shelter
from the sun and rain, at about three or four feet from the ground; the
nest itself is constructed of dried grasses, strips of bark, small
clumps of grass, roots, &c., all bound and firmly matted together and
covered over with cobwebs, the latter material being at times so similar
in appearance to the bark of the branch, that the entire nest looks like
an excrescence of the wood, consequently it is almost impossible to
detect it; it is lined with a finer description of grass, small wiry
fibrous roots or feathers. The eggs are generally three in number, of a
dull greenish white, banded round the centre or towards the larger end
with blotches and spots of blackish and chestnut-brown, which in some
instances are very minute; the medium length of the egg is nine lines
and a half by seven lines in breadth. On an intruder approaching the
nest, the birds fly about and hover over his head, and will even sit on
the same branch on which the nest is placed while the intruder is in the
act of robbing it of the eggs; all the time uttering a peculiar cry,
which may be compared to the sound of a child’s rattle, or the noise
produced by the small cog-wheels of a steam-mill.
The stomach is muscular, and the food consists of insects of various
kinds.