22 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



Genus PANDION. 



Sp. 6. PANDION LEUCOCEPHALUS, Gould. 

 White-headed Osprey. 



Pandion leucocephalus, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 138. 



Gouldii, Kaup, Isis, 1847, p. 270. — List of Birds in Brit. Mus. 



Coll., part i. 2nd edit. p. 22. 

 Yoon-door-doo, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia. 

 Joor-joot, Aborigines of Port Essington. 

 Little Fish-Hawk, Colonists of New South Wales. 

 Fish-Hawk, Colonists of Swan River. 



Pandion leucocephalus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. i. pi. 6. 



The White-headed Osprey, though not an abundant species, 

 is generally diffused over every portion of Australia suited to 

 its habits ; I myself shot it in Recherche Bay, at the extreme 

 south of Tasmania; and Gilbert found it breeding both at 

 Swan River on the western, and at Port Essington on the 

 northern shore of Australia. Like its near allies of Europe 

 and America {Pandion haliceetus and P. caroUnensis), of which 

 it is a beautiful representative in the southern hemisphere, it 

 takes up its abode on the borders of rivers, lakes, inlets of the 

 sea, and the small islands lying off the coast. Its food con- 

 sists entirely of living fish, which it procures precisely after 

 the manner of the other members of the genus, by plunging 

 down upon its victim from a considerable height in the air 

 with so true an aim as rarely to miss its object, although an 

 immersion to a great depth is sometimes necessary to effect 

 its accomplishment. Its prey when secured is borne off to its 

 usual resting-place and devoiu-ed at leisure. Wilson's elegant 

 description of the habits and manners of the American bird 

 is in fact equally descriptive of those of the present species. 

 Independently of its white head, this species differs from its 

 near allies in the much lighter colouring of the tarsi, which 

 are yellowish white slightly tinged with grey. 



