V°;-J^"] Stray Feather,. 43 



interestini^" and in.structive to a bird observer, it is (juite a mild 

 affair when compared to the thrilh'ng sight I have endeavoured 

 to describe of a Falcon at the same game. — GEO. SllEi'liERD. 

 Somerville, 20/4/07. 



Wedc.e-tailed Eagle and Lambs. — My experience of this 

 magnificent bird dates from 27th of January, 1846, on which 

 date we arrived at Redstone Hill, a small sheep-run close to the 

 present Sunbury. Although very young at the time, it is well 

 remembered that Wedge-tails were exceedingly numerous ; 

 hardly a day passed without seeing them. The birds were 

 terribly destructive at lambing time, so much so that if green 

 lambs were not closely watched the number would have been 

 greatly reduced. With all our vigilance lambs were sure to be 

 killed, not when the shepherds were on guard, but when their 

 backs were turned. In 1849 my father obtained strychnine, 

 consequently when lambing began on the Emu Creek next 

 season he played havoc with the Wedge-tails, as may be judged 

 by the fact that I had fourteen dead ones laid out in a row, two 

 of which, to the best of recollection, had fallen to the shot-gun. 

 Doubtless more than specified were poisoned, for Brodie's 

 Forest came to the opposite side of the Emu Creek ; besides, 

 there were timbered lands on our side of the stream. The 

 above-mentioned were not searched, hence it is reasonable to 

 assume that more dead birds would have been found. Now, 

 with reference to the slaughter of lambs by Eagles, though my 

 experience embraces six decades, I never saw a lamb actually 

 killed by one of these birds. On this point all that can be said 

 with any degree of certainty is that the Eagle in all cases had 

 driven his strong talons into the brain of the victim. The skull 

 of a lamb at birth, and for some time afterwards, is exceedingly 

 fragile ; the muscular development of the bird's legs is very 

 great, while its talons are keen, sharp, and long, and as a natural 

 .sequence when pressure was applied the Eagle's claws went into 

 the lamb's brain with ease, leaving marks like pellets of shot. 

 In my experience I never saw a lamb's skull crushed up. 

 Judging from a Wedge-tail which we kept in captivity for some 

 years, the bill, powerful as it seems, is not an offensive weapon. 

 This bird was taken as a fledgling from a nest built in a tall tree 

 beyond Mt. Aitken homestead. We used to keep it secured 

 with a dog-chain affixed to the top of a stump. Frequently the 

 bird got loose, but, as one wing was always clipped, recapture 

 was easy enough with the aid of a cornsack. Throwing this 

 over the escapee he was muffled up tightly, then a firm grip was 

 taken of both legs above his ankles. It would close its beak on my 

 hand. A Musky Lorikeet can nip sharply enough to draw blood, 

 but this Easrle with his formidable bill did not make a scratch. 



