voi-xxii.] WHITLOCK. Trip to Fortcscuc River 263 



on the wing at the same time, over the Crossing Pool. This 

 fine pool is over a mile long, and for some distance a hundred 

 yards wide. The depth is considerable. Its margins are 

 much frequented by Reed Warblers. An occasional Harrier 

 {Circus assimilis) was also observed flying low over the reed- 

 beds growing in the shallower parts of the pond. 



Odd pairs of Whistling Eagles {Haliastur splioutnis), too, 

 were occasionally seen. The Wedge-tailed Eagle {Uroaetus 

 audax), was not much in evidence at Mill Stream. Rut Mr. 

 Reginald Cusack, of Tambug .Station — 40 miles to the East — 

 told me that pairs had bred on the run, and that the young 

 bird had been destroyed when the nest was accessible. The 

 common Brown Hawk {Icracidea berit/ora) had also nested. 

 j\Ir. Cusack kindly gave me a pair of eggs. He also gave me 

 what he said was a Kite's tgg taken from a nest also contain- 

 ing a young bird. The appearance of the egg confirms Mr. 

 Cusack's identification. Of the smaller Hawks I noted a few 

 ]>airs of the Western Kestrel {Cerchneis cenchroides iinicolor) 

 — locally called the "Sparrow Hawk," and also the true Sparrow 

 Hawk (Accipiter cirrhocephahts). An odd example of the 

 (ioshawk {Astur fasciatxis) was seen in a Cajuput near my 

 camp late in November. 



Owls were heard calling, when at a flying camp I had near 

 the Crossing Pool. The night was bright moonlight, but for 

 all that I could not distinguish either bird amongst the foliage 

 of the River Gums. The note of one bird was distinctly lower 

 pitched than that of the other. I shot a pair of what I took 

 to be Xinox occUata near this camp. Their ])lumage was 

 much paler than that of specimens of the Boobook Owl {Ninox 

 boobook) from further south. The iris of one bird was 

 bright yellow, the other hazel brown. I was told on good 

 authority that other species of Owls occurred along the river. 

 ]\Iagpies (Gynmorhina) were very scarce on the Fortescue, and 

 I saw nothing of them in the Ranges. The dry season may 

 possibly have temporarily driven them away. I identified only 

 two pairs, both near Mill Stream homestead. One pair built 

 a nest, but I never saw the female sitting. It was in a very 

 big River Gum. .A Crow's nest was in a neighbouring tree. 

 There were frequent squabbles between the two species. I am 

 doubtful if either nest contained eggs. The Magpies ap- 

 peared to be the Black-backed (C. tibicen). The Pied Butcher- 

 Bird was sparsely represented too, but I heard this species 

 whistling in the ranges at daybreak. Some birds appeared to 

 build nests and then abandon them. This was the case with 

 a pair of Magpie-Larks which built a nest near the Mile Stream 

 spring. This spring rises suddenly in the bed of a creek, and 

 has a flow of water estimated at 14,000,000 gals, every twenty- 

 four hours. The water rises at a temperature of 82 deg., Fahr., 



