20 NESTS A. YD EGGS OF AVSTRALIAy BIRDS. 



the Red-backed Fish Eagle is by no means so bulky a structure as that 

 of its allies, nor is it so large as one would expect from a member of 

 the family to wliich it belongs. In almost eveiy instance the examples 

 foiuid by Mr. Rainbird were placed near the tops of the larger trees 

 in belts of mangroves skirting the edges of salt-water swamps and 

 marshes in the neighbourhood of Poit Denison, Queensland. They were 

 composed of twigs and dead branches of mangroves lined with finer 

 material. One, from which that gentleman shot the bird and brought 

 me the egg upon wlrich she was sitting, was lined with tufts of lichen, 

 and in tliis instance the egg was placed on various fish-bones, shells, 

 and claws of crabs, &c. The edges and sides were beautifully oma^ 

 mented with long streamers of bleached sea weed, which gave the nest 

 a novel and pleasing appearance." 



A fight to the finish. One day, near Point Cloates, West Austi'alia, 

 Mr. Tom Carter picked up a White-headed Sea Eagle and a Brown Hawk, 

 side by side, dead. 



15. — Haliastur sphenurus, Vieillot. — (5) 

 WHISTLING EAGLE. 



Figure .—Gom\A : Birds of Australia, fol,, vol. i., pi. 5. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. i., p. 316. 



Previous Descriflions of Eggs.— Gon\d: Birds of Australia (1848), also 



Handbook, vol. i., p. 21 (1865); Ramsay: Proc. Linn. Soc. 



N.S.|WaIes, 2nd ser., vol. i., p. 1141 (1886) ; North: Austn Mus. 



Cat., p. 9, pi. 4, figs. I, 2 (1889); Campbell: Proc. Austn. 



Assoc, vol. vi., p. 430 (1895). 



Geographical Dixtrihutioii. — AustraUa ; also New Guinea, New Cale- 

 donia, and Lord Howe Island. 



Nestt. — Constructed of sticks, fibrous roots, &c., moderately lined with 

 eucalypt leaves ; is more frequently built on the topmost forked branches 

 of a lofty tree, but sometimes is placed amongst herbage upon the ground 

 after the manner of the Harrier or Swamp Hawk (Circus gouldi). 

 Dimensions over all about 28 inches ; egg cavity. 3i inches deep. 



Eggs. — Clutch, two, rarely three ; roiuid oval in shape ; surface some- 

 what coarse and lustreless ; coloiu-, bluish-white, fairly marked all over with 

 blotches, spots, and other irregular-shaped markings of dark reddish-brown. 

 In some instances the markings are more dappled or cloud-like in appearance, 

 and of a lighter shade of brown intemiingled with others of purplish-red. 

 Differences in character of colouration may occiu' in the same nest. 

 Dimensions in inches of a clutch taken at Coomooboolaroo, Queensland, 

 16th October, 1885: (1) 2-08 x 1-67, (2) 2-07 x 1-63. 



Ohserrafiitns. — This splendid Hawk is a common species in nearly 

 every part of Austraha ; and, as its more handsome fishing cousin, 

 H. girrenera, loves the coastal region, so the Whisthug Eagle prefers the 

 more inland dominions. Briefly stated, the description of the Whistling 

 Eagle is — back and wings brown, each feather beautifully pencilled on the 



