NESTS AXD EGGS 01- AVSTKALIAN BINDS. 2" 



quite recently, ;iud in the uest also was one of these lumps of calcined 

 earth about the size of a man's fist. 



" In a nest to which I recently ascended, I found amongst the remains 

 of various reptiles the shells of a couple of Bustard's eggs. In the nest 

 were a couple of young Buzzards latelj' hatched. ' 



With regard to the nidification of the Black-breasted Buzzard. 

 Mr. Bennett proceeds to state: — "It usually lays about the middle of 

 August, and the yoimg leave the nest about the beginning of December. 

 If undisturbed, the old birds resort year after year to the same nest, 

 but. should it be robbed, they abandon it for ever, and it is never occupied 

 by the same species again, although other species of Hawks, notably the 

 Brown Hawk, sometimes take possession. I have never known a Buzzard 

 to touch canion or feed upon anything it did not capture, and except at 

 the nest I have never seen them perch on a tree, but have often seen them 

 perch upon the gi-ound. The note, which is something between a whistle 

 and a scream, is oulv uttered when visitins; the nest." 



19. — El.\nus axii.lahis, Latham. — (23) 



BLACK-SHOULDERED KITE. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. i.. pi. 23. 



Re/eieiue.— Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. vol. i., p. 328. 



Previoui Descriptions of Eggs. — Ramsay; Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S. Wales, 



vol. ii., p. 109 (1878]; North: Austn. Mus. Cat., p. 14. pi. 3, 



hg. 6 (18S9). 



Geographical Distribution. — Whole of Australia. 



Nest. — Comparatively bulky, constructed of sticks and twigs, and 

 usually situated in the forked branches of a tall tree. 



Eyys. — -Clutch, three to four; roundish in shape; texture of shell 

 somewhat coarse ; surface slightlv glossy ; colour, bluish-white, heavily 

 blotched or smeared all over with rich reddish-brown or chocolate ; inside 

 lining, light greenish tinge. Dimensions in inches of a proper clutch : 

 (1) 1-67 X 1-23, (2) 1-62 X 1-26, (3) 1-6 x 1-26. (Plate 3.) 



Observations. — As Gould states, although this beautiful Kite ranges 

 over the Australian Continent, the bird is only thinly dispersed. The 

 last specimens I happened to observe in Victoria were a beautiful pair 

 which were hawking over the rich alluvial flats of Bacchus Marsh, 28th 

 March, 1889. 



Dr. Ramsay states : '' During the last six years several pairs of these 

 Hawks have been known to breed on the Jindah Estate, on the Majry 

 River, in Queensland, but it was only in November last (1877) that a 

 pair gave my brother (Mr. John Ramsay) an opportunity of taking their 

 nest and eggs. The nest in question was placed among the topmost 

 forked branches of a Flirtdersia, and, as usual, composed of sticks and 

 twigs ; it was, however, a bulky structure, as is often the case with 

 Australian Hawks' nests. The eggs were three in number, but my 

 brother assures me that four is the correct number for a sitting." 



