234 SiMSON, Notes on Bdrds of Prey from Casterton. [,^, Ap,ii 



200 or 300 feet below. In ten years' experience with lambing 

 ewes I have never actually seen an Eagle kiUing a lamb. One 

 of the boundary riders once told me that he had seen five birds 

 hunting a mob of ewes and lambs, and they had killed three or 

 four lambs before he could get to them and hunt them away. 

 This year, when the ewes were low in condition, a pair killed 

 several and maimed others so badly that they had to be destroyed. 

 When a eWe got down lambing they would start at- the tail and 

 eat down the back of the legs as far as the hocks. I think the 

 Eagles are like foxes — only certain ones take to kiUing, and when 

 they do they kill regularly. Nearly every year they kill a few 

 weaners in the autumn and early winter. Now for the credit side 

 of the ledger. When once the young rabbits come about I have 

 never known the Eagles to be any trouble, even though they may 

 be nesting in a lambing paddock. In one nest that we examined 

 last year there was an Eaglet about three weeks old sitting 

 amongst a mass of dead rabbits. We estimated there must have 

 been the remains of over thirty. When all is considered, the 

 good they do more than balances the harm, and if odd birds do 

 get troublesome it is better to destroy the guilty one and leave 

 the innocent to carry on their good work. 



WhistUng-Eagle {Haliastur sphenurns). — - Whisthng-Eagles, I 

 consider, are amongst the most useful birds we have. I have 

 never known them kill their food, as they live entirely on carrion, 

 and do not appear to mind in what state of decay their food is. 

 They followed the men who were digging out rabbits this year, 

 and between them and the Ravens there would, next morning, 

 be very Httle left of the day's catch of fifty or sixty rabbits. 

 Last summer I saw a Whisthng-Eagle standing up to his knees 

 in water at the edge of the river feeding on a dead fish. It is 

 easily seen that these birds are harmless by the indifference shown 

 towards them by wild birds and fowls. They never appear to 

 notice their presence, whereas if a Falcon or Goshawk is on the 

 wing the bush is full of the alarm calls of Honey-eaters and other 

 birds. If the full value of these birds as scavengers was realized 

 by Australians they would be encouraged and protected, as the 

 Kites are in Egypt. They nest freely along the river and in the 

 red gum country, generally choosing the topmost branches of 

 tall trees near water ; the last nest we examined w?s 80 feet up 

 in a red gum. They love to use the same nest year after year, 

 unless molested, and, although they sometimes build a new nest 

 near the old, they generally end up by being faithful to their old 

 home. One nest I know of has been in use off and on for twenty 

 years. 



Black-cheeked Falcon [Falco melanogenys).— This dashing bird 

 is the terror of the birds of the bush, and its speed and daring are 

 amazing. When out riding one day I heard a frightened screech 

 from a White Cockatoo, and, looking up, was just in time to see 

 a puff of feathers fly from the Cockatoo as a grey flash shot past 

 it. When I picked the unfortunate liird up it was stone dead^ 



