'4 



NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



From Mr. Tom Carter (Nortli-west Australia) we leara : — " Tlie 

 Woflsfe-fcailed Eaglos' nests I liavo seen on tho Gascoyne coast were 

 on bushes about five feet high, tlicre being no trees near the coast. 

 Two eggs were taken 2nd June." The young in down are of snowj' 

 wliiteness A ne«t examined by a local oologist in Tasmania contained, 

 besides a pair of piu'e white eaglets, two rabbits, one opossum, and a 

 lamb, all much decomposed. Tlie following newspaper clipping is a fitting 

 couplet to the foregoing : — " Mr. Percy Tliomas, boundary rider for 

 Mr. J. K. Phillips, of Rifle Downs, Victoria, felled a tree in which wa,s an 

 eagle's nest. When examined, the nest was found to contain two eaglets ; 

 also two kangaroo rats, two opossums, and seven rabbits, all sliglitl)- 

 pecked." 



An observing friend on the Paroo, New South Wales, noticed an 

 Eagle's nest that had been iised for nine successive seasons, but whether 

 it was occupied by tho same pair of birds could not be ascertained. 



Eagles evidently take their time at nest building. Mr. Chai-les 

 Barnard (Queen.sland) observed a new, half-built nest during tlie first of 

 May. It was not completed and the eggs laid therein till about the 7th 

 July. In this nest, under the usual lining of green leaves (scented 

 eucalypt), was a sub-layer, about two inches deep, of finely-chopped iron- 

 bark (evicalypt) leaves, apparently bitten by the birds into pieces from 

 half-an-inch to one inch in length. Has any other collector noticed these 

 " minced " leaves in Eagles' nests ? 



Whether it bo a fact or not, a newspaper is responsible for tho 

 following rem.Trkable note: — "It is not generally known that the Eagle 

 Hawk constructs a table on which to eat his food. I had often mistaken 

 these tables for old nests, till one day I found one in a gidgea tree on the 

 Wani Warn. The bird was perched on top, feeding. Under the tree 

 was a mass of bones and feathers. I climbed up, and was surprised to 

 find that the supposed nest was a structure of stout, thick sticks, closely 

 and skilfully interlaced, vrith a top almost square and as flat as a board. 

 On it was a small and half-devoured wallaby. I have climbed up to and 

 examined many such stnictures since, and, as I have seen several nests of 

 the Eagle Hawk, some of which contained young birds, I may safely 

 as.sume that these tables are specially constructed for eating on. The 

 Eagle Hawk generally builds its nest in the top of the highest tree. I have 

 always found the ' tables ' in veiT low trees — such as the gidgea. 

 — E.S.S." 



To conclude our nesting observations on the Wedge-tailed Eagle 

 I may mention that collectors not unfrequently find underneath and 

 adjoining these large nests a nest of the Yellow-rumped Tit (Genhnsileiix 

 rliryssnrhna ), or of the Spotted-sided Finch (Stnrifniopleurn guftnta), or 

 perchance, if in the interior, that of the White-face (Xernjphila). 

 Extremes meet, and the great stick-built aerie of the Eagle seems to be 

 an especial refuge in certain cases for the homes of the before-mentioned 

 tiny birds. It would be merely speculation on my part to state why the 

 little creatures choose such places when more favourable situations are 

 apparently available. 



Illustrations are given of an Eagle's nest and an Eagle's look-out, both 

 photographed in the Wenibce Oorge, near Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. 



