©fficial dDrgan oi the ^tt0trala0ian ODruith^logists' Enion. 



" Bir^s of a feather." 



Vol. VII.] 1ST APRIL, 1908. [Part 4. 



Notes on Birds Found Breeding near Mackay, North 



Queensland. 



By E. M. Cornwall. 



Part I. 



In this paper I propose to confine my remarks shortly to those 

 birds which have been found breeding during the past season 

 (1907-8) in the immediate neighbourhood of Mackay, the 

 premier sugar-growing district of Northern Queensland. 



The coastal range is distant some twenty-five or thirty miles 

 from the seaboard, and the intervening area of rich alluvial 

 country is well watered by many rivers and creeks of consider- 

 able size, chief amongst them being the Pioneer River ; vast 

 areas of swamps and sedges lie at the back of the sandy ridges 

 bordering the coast, and immense belts of mangroves fringe the 

 banks of the creeks, and even the coast itself in places. It can 

 thus be well understood that it would be hard to find a better 

 district in which to observe the different forms of bird-life. 



The Wedge-tailed Eagle {Uroaetus audax) is here, but is not 

 by any means a common species. P'or some years past a pair 

 have occupied a large milk-wood tree in a patch of scrub on 

 Shoal Point, about 12 miles from Mackay. They are an 

 especially fine pair of birds, and were noticed sitting early in 

 June, and in the following month the nest was occupied by 

 Eaglets. 



A more plentiful species is the Whistling Eagle {Haluxstur 

 sphenurus). Nests may be noted wherev^er the timber is tall 

 enough to suit them, and many have been found near the town. 

 The nesting season starts about August ; young birds were 

 noted on 27th October, and on the same date a nest v/as 

 examined which proved to be nicely lined and ready for eggs. 

 These birds frequently use their old nests as " feeding tables ; " 

 on several occasions after a laborious climb to a nest on which 

 a bird had been observed sitting, it was found to be quite 

 flattened out, and on it were the remains of food, such as snakes, 

 fish, &c., which the bird had left there. 



A few pairs of Brown Hawks {Hieracidea oricntalis) have 



