l6o JACKSOt>, II aun/s of Ihe Letter-winged Kite. \^J 



Emu 

 Jan. 



Haunts of the Letter^ winged Kite (Elanus scriptus, 



Gould), 



With an Account of its Breeding Habits, and Notes on Some 



Other Species. 



By Sidney Wm. Jackson, R.A.O.U. 



Leaving Winton, in Western Queensland, by motor-car on the 

 morning of the 23rd June, 1918, we arrived at our camping base 

 on the Diamantina River on the afternoon of the 26th, in that 

 time having travelled, with our load, over 263 miles of very rough 

 country — a severe test for a big car. 



We carefully watched the clumps of coolabah and other trees 

 all the way from Winton in the hopes of meeting with Letter-winged 

 Kites, and when nearing our destination were pleased to learn 

 that these birds were reported to be breeding in the locality 

 selected. 



The driver (Mr. H. Cottrill) negotiated the car on the long 

 journey from Belltrees, New South Wales, without a mishap of 

 any kind — a good record, considering the heavy load, and covering 

 a distance of nearly 1,400 miles. After passing over another of 

 the many extensive and treeless plains we met with a clump of 

 trees known as coolabah {Eucalyptus microtheca, F. v. M.), which 

 were mostly of rather stunted and drooping growth, fringed all 

 round the edge of a long, narrow billabong or water-hole, about a 

 quarter of a mile in length, which appeared to be drying up fast. 

 The continuous and hungry winds sweeping across these vast 

 plains, week after week, soon dry up everything. We noticed 

 all the way from Winton that the closer these trees grew to water 

 the more drooping, long, and decidedly bent did their limbs 

 become, and formed all kinds of grotesque shapes. Leaving the 

 car, and walking over to this clump in order to make an inspection, 

 no birds of any kind were noticed at a distance, except a few 

 Ravens {Corvus australis) and Crows (C. bennetti), but just as we 

 got close, and almost under the trees, we were pleasantly surprised 

 to see five Letter-winged Kites fly up from their nests in the 

 coolabahs, soon followed by more, and within a few moments we 

 counted 36 of these handsome birds flying overhead. By a series 

 of flights they got higher and higher, flying with their wings 

 placed in a distinctly rigid, narrow V-shaped position, and 

 quivering only the ends, after the manner of a butterfly or moth 

 when fluttering and settling on a flower. This peculiar flight they 

 kept up until they ascended so high that they appeared like 

 minute specks of thistledown in the sky, rendering them most 

 difficult to see at such a great height, notwithstanding the sun 

 was shining on their white under sides. This flight is carried out 

 in a most graceful fashion, and tlie l)ird often topples over a little 

 to the left, and then to the right, as it quivers its way upwards. 

 During all this procedure they kept directly over the clump of 

 trees wherein they were nesting. Naturally, this discovery caused 

 us much excitement and pleasure, and set our minds at ease. 



