158 White, The Letter-winged Kite. [:.?"";" n. 



Mathews, in " Birds of Australia," vol. v., p. 208, adds nothing 

 to our knowledge of the bird ; the colour of its eye and feet in 

 his plate does not agree with Jackson's description of an adult. 

 Jackson's observations, however, carry out the suggestion made 

 in the concluding paragraph of Mathews's article — viz., " Most of 

 its history has been detailed under the previous species [E. 

 axillaris) ; but it seems unlikely to have any well-marked peculi- 

 arities of its own as regards habits. If such were ascertained, 

 they would become valuable assets in the consideration of the 

 relationship of these two species." Jackson's notes prove that 

 the breeding habits of the two species are unlike in many respects. 

 My collectors, who have searched a considerable portion of 

 Australia, are always told to keep a look-out for Elanus scriptus. 

 With one exception they have not recorded the bird, the exception 

 being S. W. Jackson, who in 1897 found a pair breeding in the 

 Clarence River district and secured a clutch of eggs, the birds 

 having been driven from the interior by drought conditions, 

 probably. Curiously enough, as the sequel shows, to this collector 

 is due the credit of finally dispelling all doubts upon the breeding 

 habits of Elanus scripttts ; he lived among the birds during six 

 weeks of their nesting season. 



Captain S. A. White, when consulted, informed me that he had 

 noted very few of the birds during his trip to Cooper's Creek, but 

 had great faith in his father's records, and felt sure they were 

 correct in the main. 



Four years ago I first saw a glimmer of light upon the subject 

 — small, certainly, but promising, when a report came to hand 

 that a squatter, lately in from far Western Queensland, had seen 

 the birds' breeding-place and had taken a number of eggs. What 

 became of the eggs is a mystery, as very few collections contained 

 authentic specimens. Following up the clue, I wrote the manager 

 of the station upon which the birds were said to breed, but, 

 although anxious to assist, he was unable to supply much informa- 

 tion. Nothing daunted, I wrote again the following year, and 

 was told that the bird described appeared to be there, and was 

 apparently of nocturnal habits (later on Jackson proved this 

 partially correct). During 1917 I again troubled the manager 

 by asking for a rough skin. This was supplied, together with 

 infcjrmation that the bird was extremely shy and difficult to shoot. 

 The skin was that of an undoubted Letter-winged Kite. A few 

 weeks later I was excited by the news that a set of eggs was on 

 its way to me. In due course the eggs arrived, beautifully blown, 

 but, alas ! nothing better than Milvus affinis ! 



Feeling satisfied that Elaniis scriptus existed in the locality 

 (Diamantina River), I determined to investigate thoroughly, 

 concluding, in my own mind, that the birds nested during June 

 or July. After consulting with my friend, Mr. J. II. Hettiiigton, 

 of " Terragong," Merriwa, we decided to send Mr. Jackson out. 

 The locahty being an extremely out-of-the-way one (260 miles 

 from the nearest railway), it was necessary to forward supplies. 



