K'ESTS AXD LOGS Oh .kUSIKAUAN BIRDS. ^ 



Nest. — Constructed of sticks and twigs, lined sparingly with leaves, 

 and generally situated in a lofty eucalypt or other tree, not unfretiuently 

 overhanging a stream or higoou. Dimensions over all about 'I'l inches; 

 egg capacity, '1\ inches deep. 



E(/(/s. — Clutch, two to four, but usually three ; stout ovals m shape, but 

 sharper at one end ; sm"face of soft appearance and almost lustreless ; 

 colour, bluish-white, in some instances sparingly marked with roimdish 

 blotches and spots of dark reddish-brown. In coumion with all Goshawks' 

 eggs, when empty and held up to the hght, there appeals a greenish 

 colour on tho inner side of the shell. Dimensions in inches of a clutch 

 taken at Coomooboolaroo, Queensland, Gth October, 1885 :(1) 1-87 x r47, 

 (•J) 1-85 X 1-49. 



Obstrvatiuiis. — This bold and dashing Goshawk is commonly dispersed 

 over AustraUa and Tiismania; and, noLwiLhsUuidiug that it is plentiful, 

 tho different stages of plumage between young and matuied birds ciiuso 

 much confusion as to its identification. That some of the birds breed 

 before full livery is donned I feel convinced. 



Bold and diisliing I s;ud Goshawks wero; of the latter ij^uality tho 

 Messrs. iJrittlebauk had a good illustration one morning, when unin- 

 vited a Goshawk, like a meteor, dashed through a window-pane of their 

 dwelling at iVlyriuong. liero is the note, wnLLvu March, 1692: — 

 " This Hawk came through oiu' bedioom window about IJ.JU last Wednesday 

 morning. When it struck the glass, it went ofl' as loud as tho report of 

 a gun, which we all thought it was — glass flying and falling all over the 

 room, some oven going tlu-ough tho bhnd. The blow must havo been veiy 

 swift, as a round hole was described in the pane. Fancy it must have 

 been after a sparrow which rested on the window-sill. " 



1 shall endeavour briefly to describe the bird. Adult — Back of 

 head, back, wings, and tail dark slate-colour ; on the throat is a reddish- 

 brown band which, enciicling the neck, is more obscui'e there in colour ; 

 remainder of under sui"faco rusty -re<.l, finely marked with cross bars of 

 dark-brown. Eyes, cere, and legs all match each other in bright yellow, 

 while tho bill and talons are slaty-blue. The total length varies from 

 15 to 20 inches, including a somewhat lengthened tail. The yoimg bird 

 differs from tliis considerably, having most of the upper surface deep 

 brown, each feather with a crescent-shaped rufous mark at the extremity. 

 Tho under surface is generally buify-whiLe, with a dark-brown stripe 

 down the centre of each feather on the tlu'oat, and elsewhere the feathers 

 are crossed by irregular bands of dark-brown, with rufous blotches in the 

 centre. 



Strolling along the banks of the Loddon River, Victoria, on one 

 occivsion, 1 observed a nest of the Goshawk in an overhanging tree, 

 likewise in the same tree was a liome of the White-fronted Heron ( i\uloplioyr 

 nuvce-lxjllatidice), and both sjxicios of birds sitting. The next nest of this 

 Goshawk that interested mo was at Coomooboolaroo, Queensland, where 

 I witnessed Mr. Harry Barnard ascend a tall eucalypt to the height of 



