married him. But if she
would not, she would see what terrible things he would make to come on
the earth, not just a harmless and beautiful roadway across the
heavens, but things that would burst from the earth and destroy it.

So by working on her mixed feelings of fear of his prowess, and
admiration of his skill, Bibbee gained his desire, and Deereeree
married him. And when long afterwards they died, Deereeree was changed
into the little willy wagtail who may be heard through the stillness of
the summer nights, crying her plaintive wail of "Deereeree, wyah, wyah,
Deereeree."

And Bibbee was changed into the woodpecker, or climbing tree bird, who
is always running up trees as if he wanted to be building other ways to
the than the famous roadway of his Euloowirree, the building of which
had won him his wife.

24. MOOREGOO THE MOPOKE, AND MOONINGUGGAHGUL THE MOSQUITO BIRD

An old man lived with his two wives, the Mooninguggahgul sisters, and
his two sons. The old man spent all his time making boomerangs, until
at last he had four nets full of these weapons. The two boys used to go
out hunting opossums and iguanas, which they would cook in the bush,
and eat, without thinking of bringing any home to their parents. The
old man asked them one day to bring him home some fat to rub his
boomerangs with. This the boys did, but they brought only the fat,
having eaten the rest of the iguanas from which they had taken the fat.
The old man was very angry that his sons were so greedy, but he said
nothing, though he determined to punish them, for he thought "when they
were young, and could not hunt, I hunted for them and fed them well;
now that they can hunt and I am old and cannot so well, they give me
nothing." Thinking of his treatment at the hands of his sons, he
greased all his boomerangs, and when he had finished them he said to
the boys: "You take these boomerangs down on to the plain and try them;
see if I have made them well. Then come back and tell me. I will stay
here."

The boys took the boomerangs. They threw them one after another; but to
their surprise not one of the boomerangs they threw touched the ground,
but, instead, went whirling up out of sight. When they had finished
throwing the boomerangs, all of which acted in the same way, whirling
up through space, they prepared to start home again. But as they looked
round they saw a huge whirlwind coming towards them. They were
frightened and called out "Wu