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