OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 109 



nest is a loose structure, composed of narrow strips of bark, 

 grass, and rootlets, (which can scarcely be said to be interwoven), 

 and with which it is chiefly lined with the addition of a few 

 feathers. It is dome-shaped in form, and a little larger than that 

 of Malurus lamberti. 



The full number of eggs were in every instance three, the 

 ground colour of a pinkish salmon tint, fading after being 

 emptied to a dull white, tinged with chocolate pink, in tint not 

 unlike those of a Sericomis rnagnirostris or S. fontalis. They 

 are blotched with irregular markings of light chocolate brown at 

 the larger, and a few dashes and spots of the same tint on the 

 thinner end, the blotches forming a zone near the thick end. 

 Length, 076 inch, by 0'57 inch in breadth. 



Elands axillaris. Lath. 

 The black-shouldered Kite. 



During the last six years several pairs of these hawks have 

 been known to breed on the Iindah Estate, on the Mary River 

 in Queensland, but it was only in November last that a pair gave 

 my brother Mr. John Ramsay, an opportunity of taking their 

 nest and eggs, which was not lost. 



The nest in question was placed among the topmast forked 

 branches of a Flindersia, and as usual, composed of sticks and 

 twigs ; it was not, however, a bulky structure, as is often the 

 case with the Australian hawk's nests. 



The eggs were three in number, but my brother assures me 

 that four is the correct number for a sitting. The ground colour 

 where visible is of a dull white, but it is mostly obscured by 

 blotches and smears of dark reddish chocolate. 



Length of " a," 1'6 inches ; breadth, 1'25 inches. 

 „ "b,"l-72 „ „ 1-25 „ 



„ "c,"l-58 „ „ V27 „ 



One specimen, " a," is reddish rusty chocolate, smeared and 

 clouded with a darker tinge. 



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