__Willie-wagtails flit and flutter wag their tail. According to some Australian bush yarns they can lead children astray into the bush.
Their stores are deeply intrenched in Australian Aboriginal Dreaming law. The white stripe is the white ochre paint from the ceremony and that tail is the burnt  remains of the spear that struck him when he lept though a camp fire in an attempt to avoid punishment by his clan.  You can tell to look at his cheeky dance he is a mischief maker.

The Willie Wagtail y dancing messages to people.  You have to be  wary of what they say. Then again they sometimes come to tell you about a very serious issue you should be aware of. Because of this they are said to be the messenger bird or the gossip monger. bird.

The Willy Wagtail is very important in the Indigenous Australian Aborigine Dreaming Law of many of the clans because his story teaches obedience to elders. His in particular is about children not answering the false call to wander into the bush and become lost. These dreaming laws helped to keep the young children close to the camps.

In my novel Dreaming Billabong, my hero Jarrah enacts the Willie Wagtail dance by jumping over a small fire during his preparation for initiation.

I was motivated to include the little Willie Wagtail into my novel because I see hm daily on my  summer walks. He is considered to be both the messenger and the mischief maker. You have to be very attuned to what he is saying to decide if he is deceiving you as he dances his massage around you.  He is certainly one of the most friendly wild birds you can meet.

_The Willie Wagtail is up at the crack of dawn and is the last day bird to retire at night and they  never stop catching insects even late into dusk.   Never still,until late at night,  he is sometimes called the restless fly catcher especially  in the Northern parts of Australia.