Vol. xyiii.-i Jackson, Haunts of the Leller-winged Kite. l6l 



The first nest I climbed to contained three eggs, and was placed 

 i6 feet up from the ground. Other nests contained four, five, and 

 six eggs each, the situation varying from ii to 19 feet up. 

 Altogether, in this clump of trees (known to us as colony No. i) 

 19 nests were examined, seven of which contained eggs, while others 

 were just ready for them, and four contained very young birds. 

 These nests had many pellets of rat-fur in them, which had been 

 ejected by the birds, and the ground beneath was frequently 

 covered with a great many. The older the nest, the more 

 numerous were these pellets, as well as the loose fur. No sticks 

 from 'trees were found in the construction of any of the 19 nests 

 examined, but were built of thoroughly dry twigs collected from 

 weeds and shrubs which grow on the plains about the billabongs 

 after heavy rains and floods. At the time of our visit these shrubs 

 were still numerous, but, of course, dead, leafless, and quite dry. 

 The nests were lined or padded inside with coolabah leaves, which 

 were more often completely covered over with a mass of rat-fur. 

 Twigs were removed from several of the nests for the purpose of 

 identification ; these were then carefully linked up with other 

 specimens which were still standing on the ground, but with one 

 exception {Muehlenbeckia cunninghami) all dead. After some 

 careful hunting the seed-pods, leaves, &c., of the different twigs 

 were collected, and placed in bundles with each respective species. 

 These have since been kindly identified and named by Mr. J. H. 

 Maiden, LS.O., Government Botanist of New South Wales. 



The twigs chiefly used, and forming the bulk of each nest, are of 

 a pale yellowish colour, exceedingly light, and are from a small 

 shrub known as Trianthema decandra, L. Many of these twigs 

 used were well over a foot long. The only other twigs met with 

 in the construction of these nests were Seshania cegyptica, Poir., 

 Muehlenbeckia cunninghami, F. v. M., and Sphceranthus indicns, 

 L., also a shrub of the order G^notheracece, and closely allied to 

 Epilohium, which could not be identified with absolute certainty, 

 as no linking-up material could be collected at the time, the plants 

 all being too long dead. 



The nests varied in size. The smaller ones had the appearance 

 of being quite new, while the larger ones had apparently been 

 added to year after year. Typical nests measured about 14 inches 

 across over all, with a depth of about 8 inches over all, egg-cavity 

 measuring 8 by 3 inches, more or less ; some only measured 

 II inches across, while others were as much as 20 inches, but 

 these had been used before, and the lining in such cases was a 

 solid thick mass of rat-fur. Eggs and young birds were also found 

 in these larger structures. 



Moving on from the nesting-place at No. i colony, we motored 

 across the open plain for about three miles, and, after passing 

 over some more very rough dried-up billabongs and natural flood- 

 channels, met with another narrow water-hole running north 

 and south, and nearly a mile long, fringed round the very edge 

 with coolalxih trees. Here we decided to camp, as the water 



