The Life of the Dainty Fantail
PATIENT INDUSTRY OF A PRETTY BIRD.
SEEING THE FLY CATCHER AT HOME.
As the east grew lighter, the world i seemed to wake very softly and look I in that direction. A breath of wind. ■ gone as quickly as it had come, playfully rustled the tree tope, and out en the river a duck quacked. Thel song of the bellbird, which had commenced at the first peep of dawn, had now abated until ft was nothing more than an occasional outburst of chiming. A sunbeam, successfully seeking the pool wherein the duck swam, revealed a host of mosquitos
dancing abeve the river. Daintily graceful as a butterfly, a black fantail flitted out over the I water. The snip of the tiny bill was audible above the murmuring stream : and one mosquito would dance no more. Alighting upon a dead branch ' of veronica overhanging the bank the fly-catcher swallowed its prey and fluttered forth again and still again until, ite appetite somewhat appeased, it paused—albeit the fanshaped tail still jerked spasmodically —to take stock of things. Across the river, in a tangled thicket of black-scrub, flax, brambles, and niggerheads, above which reared ribbonwoods and an occasional maple, piped a blackbird and two thrushes, the blackbird being conspicuous by its deep, more musical whistle. A grey warbler trilled swteetly. Tis isolated patch of bush with the river flowing through it was a bird’s' Eldorado, writes Hugh Ross in "Forest Bird.” Bird’s Paradise. To the fly-catcher, with the myriad insects hovering above the water, it represented a veritable paradise. He could not keep still. With Indefatigable energy he kept hopping up and ; down his perch, facing first one bay, and then, with characteristic flutter, turning about to observe what might , be presenting itself in his rear. And all the while he was journeying from end to end of his resting place. Every now and then he would dart away through the bush on eager little excursions; but he never absented himself for long. Five—lo minutes, and back he came to hover out over the river—and the mosquitos, whose
I ranks were now being ’diminished by i : a pair of tiny, leaping trout, that. tirelessly as the fly-catcher, patrolled a beat in the shallow, slowrfiowing I water at the river’s adge. I All at once, and for no visible reason, the black fly-catcher swooped I down until he ruffled the v'ater in Ills flight, twisted round, snipped at.
I but missed, a fly., and then, without ■ bothering to renew the attack, I flashed upward through the sunny I morning air, until, high above the
scrub and flax, he perched on the top- i most twig of a giant kowhai. A j while he fluttered, frolicked, then, head lifted as though in defiance of the whole world, he sent a challenge of staccato-like tong echoing over the bush. • Ever Vivacious. The fantail is ever vivacious and on this sunny morn this particular little sprite was more than ordinarily vivacious, more than ever bubbling with the joy of living and of selfpride. And who shall blame him? For spring was come. Glorious, fresh budding, inimitable spring.
Spring that filled the fantail with thoughts of a mate; a nest (that veronica tree overhanging the river, for instance, as an ideal site), aud little cheeping youngsters, days of busy activity, hard work and . . . happiness. Everywhere birds l were engaged upon their personal affairs, searching, singing, fighting, fluttering, nestbuilding. Still carolling, the black fly-catcher descended from his lofty perch and back to the pool to catch more insects hovering in the run; .then away to explore again, but pausing every few yards to spread his tail and trill music. Always, however, he returned to 'that complacent riverbend. Yet he failed to find hi® companion that day or for several days'. When at last he did find her, it was some distance from his own delightful domain. Perhaps a mile from his hunting ground, there grew a clump of bluegum trees. Long ago there had been a homestead; now all that remained
I were the gum trees, fruit trees', flow 1 - | ering currant and honeysuckle. The I gum trees were in flower and for the fly-catcher they possessed a peculiar fascination. Always he went to them, where, for hours, he hovered in and out among their tops. Just why he did this I am not sure. Perhaps he enjoyed their perfume, but 1 think what he really enjoyed most were the
honey-luxuriating insects infesting the flowers. And it was while sporting amid these sweet-scented flowers . that he introduced himself to the j mate of his 1 dreams, and it was from 'the gum trees, after much theatrical ! and ostentatious behaviour on his | part, that the fly-catcher proud and triumphant, lead his bride-to-be.
Exquisite Song. Together, flying in the undulating fashion of fly-catchers when making a flight of any duration, they journeyed Lack, through the Warm, tranquil air i to that wonderful rendezvous beside j the river. As they flew down to the I keen-eared wild life inhabiting the tussock, and yellow and green box-
wood, came snatches of song of the exquisitely happy male fly-catcher. The moment they arrived at their destination he alighted upon a twig and sang. He sang as he accompanied his mate on a voyage of discovery through that isolated clump of hush. He sang v'hen later they ' feasted together upon the , dancing ' flies. Almost the last sound heard before darkness set in upon that ■ wonderful day was the sleepy note of a fly-catcher.
A nest was in making over the limpid rlver-peol—a nest which was very firmly attached o the branch of a red maple growing on the bank. Although very well sheltered from Wind it bore a somewhat isolated appearance, being singularly detached
from other branches and intervening twigs. What care! What patient industry! What pride was exhibited by the pair of black fly-catchcrs in the construction of their home. The foundation of that nest was laid by adroitly securing miniature chips of decayed wood with bindings of cob- ! web t«o the site selected. (The cure | and skill exhibited by the fly-catcher . 1 in constructing the platform on which i it eventually builds its nest is mar- - j vellous, if not uncanny). As the j work advanced, both birds appeared ; | to become absorbed in the task to - such an extent that an observer i might have been given to think that isong Was unknown to them. Indeed
they spared only odd moments in which to flutter over the water in pursuance of an odd fly, or to alight upon a stone to drink. Construction of Nest,
The nest was made of slender grasses, roots fine at threads, an odd leaf, green-tufted moss (on the outside) formed the walls. The interior was snugly lined with firm down anq I other • similar material. For soma | peculiar reason, no feathers of any | description were used. The entire cup-shaped nest Was laced and related with countless spider web , strands.
A morning identical with the one on which we first met otir pretty fridnd, shvq that it was later in Ole year. Birds were singing everywhere; but they were less ostentatious: the first wild flush of delirious joy had given way to quieter, deeper happiness.: their restlessness was gone. Just as he had dona before, title black fly-catcher, still graceful, stil) dainty, fluttered out over that foam-flecked pool. Snip! Snip! Only this time he did not eat his catch. Instead he bore it proudly back to the nest in order that he might quiet an insistent "peep, peep, peeping,” egreesing therefrom.
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Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 368, 24 February 1937, Page 3
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1,268The Life of the Dainty Fantail Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 368, 24 February 1937, Page 3
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