NESTS A.VD EGGS OV AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 43 



takeu by Mr. Johu S. Ramsay, on the 15th August, 1880, from a nest 

 in the Wide Bay district, and another clutch of throe eggs taken on the 

 Mary River. Queensland, in 1882; while we have Mr. K. Broadbent's 

 own valuable field observations of the Osprey made in Northern Queens- 

 laud, where the bird finds it« most suitable living about the mouths of 

 the rivers, and is prevalent at Cardwell, where it breeds dmiug the month 

 of June. He once saw one of these birds capture a fish weighing about 

 five pounds, lift it from the water, and fly away with ease. 



Though Gould himself shot an Osprey in Recherche Bay, Tasmania, 

 the bird is not usually foimd so fai- south, preferring more the tropical and 

 sub-tropical coastal line. However, 1 possess a splendid set of thi'ce ogga 

 (remarkable for their light ground-colour and dark blotches on the apex) 

 taken on Kangaroo Lsland (S.A.) bv Mr. White, just recentlv (August 

 1899). 



Breeding season extends from June to November. 



Sub-order — Striges: Owls. 



FAMILY— BUBONID^ ; 0\AT.S PROPER. 

 Sub-family — Bi-BoNiXiE. 



30. — NiNox BOOBOOK. Latham. — (35 and 36) 

 N. mnriiiord/iis^ Gnuld. 



BOOBOOK OWL. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. i., pi 32. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. ii.. p. 16S 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Gould : Birds of Australia (1848), also 



Handbook, vol. i.,p. 75(1865) ; North : Austn. Mus. Cat., p. 25, 



pi. 6, 6g 6 (1889). 



Geographical Dixtrihiilidtt. — Australia and Tasmania (?). also Lord 

 Howe Island. 



Xest. — UsuaUy a hollow spout or limb of a tree, dead or Uving, the 

 eggs being deposited on the decayed wood-dust within. 



Egcfs. — Clutch, thi-ee, occasionally four; nearly round, compressed 

 slightly at one end ; texture somewhat coarse, with a few limy excresences 

 on the siu-face which is slightly glossy and very minutely pitted; colour, 

 white. Dimensions in inches of a proper clutch: (1) 1-79 x 1-45, (2) \-Tl 

 xl-43, (3) 1-71 xl-45. 



Ohservatinns. — The Boobook Owl is a rusty-coloured bird irregularly 

 blotched with white. This nocturnal creature is imdoubtedly the most 



