FAIRY WREN

also called Blue Wren, or Superb Warbler, any of the 14 species of the Australian genus Malurus of the songbird family Maluridae (sometimes placed in the warbler family Sylviidae). These common names, and bluecap, are given particularly to M. cyaneus, a great favourite in gardens and orchards of eastern Australia. The male has blue foreparts with black markings. This species, like others of the genus, is about 13 centimetres (5 inches) long, with a narrow blue tail, which is carried cocked up. The bluecap sometimes sings at night as well as by day. The splendid fairy wren (M. splendens; see ) of Western Australia, unlike the bluecap in the east, avoids settled areas.