Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Wednesday 10 September 1879, page 3


Some Familiar Birds.

By " A Bush Naturalist."

THE FLYCATCHERS-MUSCICAPIDX.

II.

Very similar in coloring and much about the same size and appearance as the black fantail is another species of the flycatcher, almost equally common and as generally known. It is well named the restless flycatcher, or Seizure inquieta. It is the only Australian representative of the genus Seisura, although there are four other species that inhabit the various islands of the Australian region.

This familiar and friendly bird is better known to all bushmen as the "razor grinder." Australia certainly does produce some anomalous natural facts, amongst which are the au birdlike vocal powers possessed by two of its birds the "laughing" dancers and the "razor-grinding" seisura. Any stranger, even although he were an ornithologist, hearing for the first time the " Song" of either of these two birds, and not seeing them, would never even guess that it was a bird at all which was the originator of such a peculiar sound. In the case of this little fly-catcher the sound is, without any exaggeration, almost an exact reproduction of the rattling grating produced when a knife or scissor grinder applies the steel blade to the rapidly revolving wheel. It is just such an instance of curious natural development as would doubtless delight Messrs. Wallace and Darwin to account for.

Another strange peculiarity of this homely little bird is that, while it utters this song, it is always hovering in the air and only a few feet from the ground; rapidly does it then vibrates its wings, and yet it remains stationary-poised exactly like the European kestrel when about to seize its prey. After keeping up this hovering and rattle for a minute or two, it suddenly drops to the ground. Gilbert, the observances Biitant of Gould in his great ornithological work, thinks that the object of the noise is to attract the notice of insects, and so cause them to momentarily show themselves and this exposure is then taken advantage of by the bird to capture it. If this be so and I confess to strongly leaning towards that opinion-it is a strange, and I should say unique, instance of a bird or animal of prey making a noise in order to attract its victim in every other case, so far as I can remember, quietness is an absolute necessity for successful hunting. We are accustomed to consider the vocal power in birds to be called forth either by the powerful impulse of love, or out of pure joy of existence, or vanity of appearance, or rivalry of another, or as an aid towards discovering one another and so keeping a flock together, or as an alarm in case of danger ; but here we see it employed apparently either to attract or to frighten its living prey-for it is never uttered except the bird is hunting, and it almost invariably finishes off suddenly by the perpendicular drop and seizure of the insect. The usual note of the bird is shrill, harsh, and quite different to the rattle emitted when hovering. This hovering motion is exceedingly graceful ; also the usual mode of flight of this elegant-shaped bird is more graceful than that of any other of the family group, for it does not indulge in the eccentric movements of the genus ship Jura. Like all of the tribe the flight is never higher than to the tops of the trees, nor is it kept up for any great distance at a time.

The nest is round and cup-shaped, and almost exactly the same as that of the black fantail, being quite as neatly made and as compactly woven. It is, I think, more difficult to find at least I have never found nearly so many and the reason is that as a general rule it builds Higher up from the ground, and, like the genus microbes, frequently chooses the last fork of a horizontal dead branch, or the upper side of a bare bough that hangs a considerable distance over water, for the situation of its nest. The eggs also are, like those of the black fantail, of a greenish dirty white, zone. around the larger end with spots and markings of brown ; three is the number I have usually found, but sometimes only two, I do not know what time of the year it nests in Queensland, but in Victoria it is a late breeder.

It has a great range of habitat, for I have seen it in all places from Adelaide to Moreton Bay ; but I do not remember noticing it on the Gulf shores or in Northern Queensland.

I append Gould's description, so that the reader can if he like verify the bird :-" Head and all the upper surface, shining bluish black ; tail, brownish black forest, deep velvety black ; under surface, silky white, with the exception of the sides of the chest, which are dull black ; brides, dark brown. The sexes are very similar in plumage, but the female and young males have the bores, or space between the bill and the eye, not so deep a black as in the male."