8 BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 



BROWN HAWK 



{Hicracidca orientalis, Schlegel). 



Male. — Upper surface, including head, wings, and tail, uniform 

 dark brown; the feathers on the lower back, wing coverts, and 

 tail barred with reddish-brown; chin and throat crean-iy-white 

 to white, varying with age ; rest of under surface creamy-white. In 

 some specimens the feathers on the chest and sides are only 

 streaked with black, in others black predominates on the whole 

 of the under surface; thighs brownish-black; under tail coverts 

 silvery-gi-ey. Dimensions in mm. : — Length, ^57; bill, 26; wing, 

 340 ; tail, 200 ; tarsus, 62. 



Female. — Similar in plumage. 



Young. — Male. — Upper surface hghter than adult; under sur- 

 face white, faintly creamed; feathers on chest and abdomen 

 streaked with brown ; sides of body and thighs brown. Dimensions 

 in mm. : — Length, 425; bill, 25; wing, 323; tail, 125; tarsus, 62. 



Nest. — Usually situated in the branches of a tall eucalypt, and 

 composed of sticks and twigs, with a lining of leaves and pieces of 

 bark. 



Eggs. — Clutch two to three usually; round oval in shape; tex- 

 ture of shell fairly fine and without lustre. Eggs vary much in 

 markings, even those of the same clutch. As a general thing it 

 may be said that the ground colour is buffy-white and the surface 

 much spotted and blotched with reddish to purplish brown; 

 in some eggs the larger end, in others the smaller, is almost 

 entirely covered by the markings; in others, again, the whole egg 

 is smothered. Dimensions in mm. of a pair: — (1) 51.5 x 41, (2) 

 51 X 39. 



A richly-coloured set in J\lr. Hubert Thompson's collection is 

 worthy of remark. The upper quarter of (1) is pinkish-white, 

 heavily covered with minute freckles of reddish-brown, with a 

 few large blotches of the same colour about the centre ; the rest 

 of the surface is a uniform deep reddish-brown. The upper quar- 

 ter of (2) is as in (1), but there are a number of various-sized spots 

 scattered about it; the rest of the surface is very heavily blotched 

 with deep reddish-brown and blackish-brown, with the pinkish-red 

 ground colour showing out here and there. The remaining egg (3) 

 is practically a uniform reddish-brown, but the pigment is not as 

 heavily laid on as on the lower quarter of (1) — the extreme upper 

 and lower quarters are slightly paler than the rest of the surface. 

 Dimensions in mm. of this clutch :— (1) 50 x 40, (2) 51.5 x 41, (3) 

 49 X 40. 



Breeding Season. — August to November. 



Geographical Distribution. — Tasmania, King Island, and prac- 

 tically the whole of the mainland. 



Observations. — Of all the Hawks found in Tasmania this species 

 appears to be the most plentiful. Its food, judging from the con- 



