j()\ Jackson, Haunts of the Lettev-winged Kite. [isf'Xn 



kack," which the female, on or near her nest, answers l)y rendering 

 a loud and prolonged " Kar-kar-kar-kar," and when he arrives 

 at the nest her noisy cry is repeated, but with much more vigour. 

 We heard these noises going on at night beside our camp at colony 

 No. 2 for several weeks, and at times, when the boisterous winds 

 had considerably abated, the screeching and calling on the whole 

 length of the clump of coolabahs could be heard. As a rule, the 

 noise usually started with renewed vigour just as the moon rose, 

 and it did not matter if it was 8 p.m. or 2 a.m. : then the babble 

 of cries and rat-catching proceeded. However, on the other 

 hand, we have frequently heard the males calling on returning 

 from the plains with rats on dark nights, and feeding the females 

 at the nests in the usual way. On moonlight nights they appeared 

 to fly a little higher than was the case on dark nights. The birds 

 kept quiet when returning until they got within a few hundred 

 yards of the spot ; then they rendered their advance note of 

 approach as described. 



The day note of the male bird, made chiefly when on the wing, 

 is a peculiar loud and sudden call resembling " Kack-kack-kack- 

 kack-kack-kack," being very much louder than the night call, 

 and, strange to say, very closely resembling the notes of the 

 Dollar-Bird or Australian Roller {Eurystomus australis), but not 

 quite so loud. The female's day note is often a peculiar chicken- 

 like " Chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp." Both birds utter this 

 particular note, male mostly at night. 



Two species of lice infested these birds in great numbers, and 

 samples were collected for identification. 



Just before sunset the birds face the setting sun, and their white 

 breasts look beautiful with the green foliage of the coolabah trees 

 behind and the sunlight upon all. If the birds fly about the 

 trees during the day, they keep close to those wherein they are 

 nesting, and frequently perch on top of a dead upright branch. 

 This position is generally taken up by the male bird. Nothing is 

 known to me of the actions and habits of these birds other than 

 those observed during their breeding season, and these differ from 

 those of the Black-shouldered Kite [Elanus axillaris), which species 

 I have had much experience among, both during and after their 

 breeding, in 1897 and 1898 in New South Wales. The Letter- 

 winged Kite looks very beautiful and graceful when flying directly 

 overhead, and the black bar, so well defined, running along the 

 under side of the wings, stands out most distinctly on the white, 

 a black letter V thus being formed on each wing when they bend 

 in flight. 



On revisiting (some weeks after) one of the nesting-places of 

 this bird, we were surprised to count 17 of them flying out of a small 

 coolabah tree, wherein they had all been roosting. The young 

 birds, on being handled at the nests, make a great noise, whicli 

 resembles the loud and shrill squeak of the paper trumpets often 

 blown by the crowds of young people in the streets at Christmas 

 time. 



