A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Deereeree lives alone with four daughters and fears a new neighbouring camper, Bibbee. She stays awake calling through the night and explains to him that noises make her afraid. Although he repeatedly proposes that she marry him for protection, she declines. When his newly made rainbow appears, she fears a disaster and takes the children to his camp. He identifies himself as its maker and threatens worse creations if she will not marry him. The narrative explicitly connects her eventual agreement with fear as well as admiration.

At the much later deaths of the married pair, Deereeree becomes the little willy wagtail, whose call is heard on still summer nights, while Bibbee becomes a climbing tree bird. Her night cry continues an action established before the transformation. The four girls are her children, but the chapter neither identifies their father nor supplies their later fate. Its subject is a named widow’s coercive courtship and eventual bird identity in Parker’s regional collection; the identification does not establish that every similarly named figure elsewhere in the book shares the same life story.

Widow with four daughtersPersistent night callRefuses repeated proposalsWagtail-form conclusion
01

Origins & earliest records

K. Langloh Parker, Australian Legendary Tales (1896), Deereeree the Wagtail, and the Rainbow. Narran-region collection; individual narrator unspecified.

02

Records & interpretation

The complete published English narrative identifies the rainbow maker, the widow’s resistance and the distinct final bird forms. Collector mediation and regional scope are retained.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Australian Legendary Tales: Deereeree the Wagtail, and the Rainbow

    K. Langloh Parker · 1896

    Complete selected narrative; Euloowirree is the named rainbow. Four children belong to Deereeree; their father is not identified.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary historical collected narrativeParker: Deereeree the Wagtail, and the RainbowResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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