26 .VESTS AA'D EGGS OF AVSTRALIAX BIRDS. 



tree, being barkless and " greasy," was difficult to climb ; therefore the 

 inside of the nest was not inspected. The Buzzard was observed in 

 the vicinity, but did not appear to be sitting. When we retired to a 

 distance. Ravens came and wrangled with each other at the side of the 

 nest, most probably over some flesh that the old Buzzard had left for 

 its yoimg. It was then the 18th September. 



The chief breeding months of the Buzzard may include from August 

 to November. 



" The natives, Mr. Drummond and his son, Mr. Johnson JJi-ummond, 

 tell me," says Gilbert, " that this bird is so bold that, upon discovering 

 an Enui sitting on her eggs, it will attack her with gi'eat ferocity until it 

 succeeds in diiving her from the nest, when, the eggs being the attraction, 

 it takes up a stone with its feet, and while hovering over the nest lets 

 it faU upon and crash them, and then descends and devoiu-s their 

 contents. ' Gould adds : " It is to be wished that persons favourably 

 situated wovdd ascertain if the stor}- of the birds breaking the eggs of the 

 Emu be correct, or if it be one of the numerous myths of the aborigines." 

 However, the aborigines are correct for once, and the fact has been circum- 

 stantially estabhshed by the late Mr. K. H. Bennett, who enjoyed singular 

 opportvmities for obser\ang the Buzzard in the interior country of New 

 South Wales. I quote at lengtli from Mr. Bennett, in the " Proceedings 

 of the Linneau Society of New South Wales " : — 



" Its prey to a great extent consists of various reptiles — such as snakes, 

 frill-necked and sleepy lizards ; it also has the singidar habit of robbing 

 the nests of Emus and Bustards of their eggs. My first information on 

 this point I obtained from the blacks,* and for some time 1 was inclined 

 to disbelieve their assertion, though the same story was told by the blacks 

 from all parts of the district, as it was so contrar}' to my experience of 

 the Accipitres family. At length, however, I was compelled to alter my 

 opinion, for I subsequently foimd portions of Emu egg shells in the nest 

 of one of these Buzzards. The manner in which they efi'ect the abstraction 

 of the Emu eggs — as told me by the blacks — shows an amount of cunning 

 and sagacity that one would scarcely give the bird credit for. and is as 

 follows : — On observing a nest, the Buzzard searches for a stone, or what 

 is much more frequently found there, a hard lump of calcined earth. Armed 

 with this, the Buzzard returns, and, should the Emu be on the nest, 

 alights on the gromid some distance off, and approaches with outstretched 

 flapping wrings. The Emu, alaniied at this, to it, strange-looking object, 

 hastily abandons the nest and runs away. The Buzzard then takes quiet 

 possession, and with a stone breaks a hole in the side of each egg. into 

 which it inserts its claw and carries them oS at its leisure, for when the 

 eggs are broken the Emu abandons the nest. So much for the blacks' 

 story. 



" This, however, is in a great measure corroborated by a friend of 

 mine who lives on the adjoining station, and who told me tliat in August 

 last (1881) he found the nest of an Emu containing five eggs, and all of 

 them had a broken hole in the side, and that the fracture liad been done 



* Mr. Bennett has probably inadvertently overlooked the fact that a blacks' story 

 is likewise mentioned in Gould. 



