Vol. XX.j Royal Aiisiialiisuiii Oiinlln'/o^is/s' Union. Xyj 



Araj^o wriles : "At leni^lli wc rctiinicd hv liie Bay ol Sc-als, where 

 \vc saw prodigious numbers .ol these animals, which cunlencled, no 

 (.louhl, with clouds of Pelicans assembled at the south point of the 

 co\c lor the sovorei.nnty of the place, which 1 yield to them with all 

 my. heart ." 



Circus assimilis. .Mlied Harrier ^ Pairs seen in xarions parts ol 

 i)irl< ilarto^ Island, and once or twice on I'eron Peninsula. 1 I ned 

 in \ain to locate the nest ol a ])air which haunted the m'i,L;hlioinhood 

 ol the West well. 



Astur cruentus. Pesser P.oshawk. —A pair occasionally seen near 

 the Ten-mile well. 



Accipiter torquatus. Sparrow-Hawk. — 1 oilen saw a male, and 

 occasionally a female, of this species near the hut I was occupying 

 at the Ten-mile well. 1 hoped they would breed in an adjacent 

 wan\ u thicket, but I failed to find their nest. 



Uroaetus audax. Wedge-tailed Eagle. — Though much persecuted, 

 this species holds its own on Dirk Hartog. It is more abundant at 

 the north end them in other parts. During my recent visit several 

 nests were found. Mr. Pen. Bryant very kindly procured me a fine 

 pair of eggs taken from a large nest of sticks newly lined with green 

 leaves. This nest was placed on a spur of rock that had broken 

 awav from the cliff on the west side of the island, and was reached 

 with some difficulty. The site was about 1 50 feet from the waves 

 below. Xests have often been found placed on large bushes or wanyu 

 trees, and I was told of an old one built on the spur of a ridge at the 

 foot of the main range of hills traversing the island. On Peron Penin- 

 sula the Wedge-tailed Eagle is much less common ; I saw only one 

 bird mvsclf. 



Halia'etus leucogaster. Sea-Eagle. — Not so common as the Wcdge- 

 tailcd Eagle, but pairs lireed around the coasts of Dirk Hartog Island, 

 and to a lesser extent around the Peron Peninsula. The only nest 

 1 examined was the one before mentioned,, amongst the Cormorants 

 at the Quoin Bluff. It was a poor structure — a few sticks arranged 

 in a rough circular form with a very scant lining of seaw^eed. Tt con- 

 tained two Eaglets about a month old. A pair of eggs was taken 

 in August from another headland near Herald Bay. These were 

 secured bv an aborigine, who boiled them with a view to making a 

 meal of them. Thev proved too strong even for his taste. At the 

 West well Sea-Eagles several times perched on the vane of the wind- 

 mill close to my camp. 



Hieracidea berigora. Brown Hawd-c. — Sparinglv distributed throu;;h- 

 out Dirk Hartog and the Peron Peninsula. At the former localit\- 

 I was shown a pair of fresh eggs taken alx)ut the end of August. .\ 

 pair near niv Ten-mile camp- drove away the lawful owners ot a 

 Crow's nest. 1 left the locality before the eggs were laid. 



Cerchneis cenchroides. Kestrel. — Eairly common around Shark 

 Ba\", breeding in cliffs, and also on Peron, in okl Crows' nests in the 

 mangro\-es. .\nother pair had selected an unusual jjlaee, the nest 

 l)ein;-( actuallv on the ground. .\ hole had lieen exca\ated in a corner 

 lormed by a galvanized iron fence erected around an open water- 

 hole. I was told four eggs w'cre subsequently laid. Another nest 

 was a natural ca\it\' in a huge rock ; this was partly filled with sand, 

 on which the four eggs were laid 



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