The Fantails and some, at least, of the Flycatchers proper are known to all. Who does not know and admire the plucky, though fussy Black and White Fantail (Willie Wagtail), as it drives a cat or a dog away from the vicinity of its nest, or as it waits impatiently about the mouth of a grazing cow or horse, or as it expresses its opinion of itself in the melodious "sweet, pretty creature," heard even late on moonlight nights? The friendly White-shafted Fantail is almost as well known, as it flits about a camp or catches flies near some water-course.
At the Summer School, a Fantail spent some time each day in the dining-tent. The beautiful Rufous Fantail is just as tame, but is not quite so common. The nests of the White-shafted and Rufous Fantails are things of beauty. The long wine-glass stem is said by some to serve to drain the water away down from the nest, or as a means of carrying the eye down from the nest itself, so that it is seldom seen, or as a balance, so that the nest is not tilted too far in windy weather.
The Scissors Grinder, or Restless Flycatcher, is very much like a Black and White Fantail, but the throat is white, while that of the Fantail is black. The Grinder is often mentioned in popular books on bird-life, on account of its peculiar scissors-grinding note uttered while hovering in search of insects.
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ORDER XXI.—PASSERIFORMES, PERCHING BIRDS.
F. 105. Pteroptochidae, Tapaculos, Tilt-birds, 31 sp. Nl.
F. 106. Conophagidae, Antwrens, 16 sp. Nl.
F. 107. Formicariidae, Ant-thrushes, 348 sp. Nl.
F. 108. Dendrocolaptidae, Wood-hewers, Spinetails, 405 sp. Nl.