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14 cm in length.
Sparrow-sized. Sexes similar, but the juveniles are
brown, heavily spotted on head, back, wing-coverts and breast with pale buff; flight
feathers are broadly margined with blue-grey.
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It is not a shy bird. It
feeds mainly on flying insects, beetles, caterpillars and the like, but also eats berries
such as wild yellow rasberry, lantana, etc. It has a sweet rather loud song.
The main breeding season
is in the first half of the year, March and April being the favourite months; but a second
-or a third-brood is often reared in August-September. The nest is a compact mass of green
moss, with a neat, rather deep cup in the top, lined with fine black fibers, probably fern
roots. The site is always well shaded, but not always well concealed. The normal clutch is
two, but occasionally three eggs are laid. They are pale pink, freckled all over with pale
burnt sienna, which often formas a zone, or cap, at the large end. They
measure about 20.5 X 14.8 mm. |
