l66 Jackson, Haunls of the Letter-winged Kite. [,st'^'jaii. 



pale yellow ; bill black ; claws 1)lack. Eyes handsome rich luljy 

 red, and sometimes, on the very inside edge of the ring, where it 

 meets the large bluish-black pupil, it becomes a little more orange 

 in colour. Male is smaller than female, and much lighter on the 

 hack. An average adult (breeding) female measures in mm. : — 

 Total length 368, wing 318, tail 159, tarsus 33, bill 33. Cere horn 

 colour ; legs and feet pale yellow ; bill black ; claws black ; eyes 

 handsome rich ruby red, as in the male. 



None of the birds had a yellow cere, although that colour is 

 quoted by Gould, North, Mathews, and others. Probably the 

 cere during the breeding season loses the yellow colour and turns 

 to horn colour, but that remains yet to be proved. 



These birds are known to the aborigines of the Diamantina 

 River country as " Gidga-gidga," and the large rats which fonn 

 the principal food for these birds are also greatly relished by the 

 blacks, and we saw them eating some they had cooked. It is 

 surprising how fat these rats are, considering the district was in 

 a dry state during the time of our visit, notwithstanding that the 

 place was flooded only last February. We killed over 600 of 

 them while we were camped beside the water-hole at No. 2 colony. 

 Everything at our camp had to be suspended by wires from the 

 trees in order to escape these vermin at night. It appears, 

 however, that the movements of these birds are greatly influenced 

 by the rats, as the localities selected for their nidification are more 

 or less frequented by these rodents, and perhaps mice as well. 

 Although many of the birds were found breeding, only a few of 

 their eggs that were considered necessary to take were secured, 

 and the observations made clearly show the value of this handsome 

 species in greatly assisting to keep in check the vermin pest 

 mentioned. 



During March of 1862, J. M'Kinlay, when on the Burke Relief 

 Expedition, passed over the ground within a few miles of where 

 we were camped (judging by the examination of his charts), and 

 mentions having seen Sea-Gulls. It is just possible, however, 

 that the birds referred to were Letter-winged Kites, and the 

 mistake could no doubt happen from a distant view of the birds, 

 owing to the ordinary flight of this Kite resembling very much 

 that of a Sea-Gull, combined with the colour of the bird. 



Notes on Other Species. 



Milvus affinis. Allied Kite. — This common Kite was met with in 

 great numbers, and as many as 80 were covmted on the dead limbs 

 of a coolabah. Their ordinary note is a peculiar Curlew-like whine. 

 When we walked across the plains they often followed close up to us 

 in a big flock, no doubt watching for rats that we might disturb in 

 the cracked ground as we moved on. They capture their food during 

 the day, and we have often seen them flying about carrying a rat in 

 their claws, and on two occasions they dropped one at our camp when 

 fighting in the air and chasing one another. At times they would 

 cut curious antics by flying about with a stick in their claws, which 

 they would suddenly drop, and then swoop down and catch again 



