from Western Australia. 125 



sooty brown, medially divided by a line of whitish down 

 (spinal tract down) from below the upper neck to the tail ; 

 the upper leg is sooty brown, regularly spotted with white ; 

 the tarsus and toes are covered with a soft yellow skin com- 

 posed of reticulated hexagonal scales ; the bill is horn-black, 

 the lower mandible is tipped with yellow; the nails are 

 black; the iris is hazel. Length 12 inches. 



B. Nestling (strongly feathered ; about to leave nest). — 

 Feathers of the head and neck all round light rufous, more 

 so on the lower than on the upper part, each feather streaked 

 along the middle with black and bounded laterally with 

 white ; the rufous is conspicuous on the lower fore-neck and 

 less so on the nape, which is streaked ; chin and throat 

 whitish, tinged only with rufous and narrowly marked down 

 each centre with brownish black ; behind the eye a line of 

 black feathers ; no broad line of white running down the 

 side of the neck ; a broad band of light brown down upon 

 the chest, with only two or three feathers ; breast, abdomen, 

 and under tail-coverts white, slightly tinged in the median 

 part with light yellowish buff ; interscapulium and back 

 deep brown, each feather broadly edged with buff; outer 

 wing- quills black, tipped with pale rufous; inner quills 

 chocolate-brown, edged with pale rufous like the majority of 

 the upper tail-coverts, which are chocolate-brown broadly 

 edged with buff ; under tail-coverts deep brown edged with 

 rufous buff; tail-feathers, only partially ''burst," blackish 

 brown and ashy brown alternately barring the tail, tips 

 pale rufous ; legs partly clothed with down and white 

 feathers ; tarsus and foot with loose tawny skin in a complete 

 fold ; talons and bill horn-black. Total length 22*5 inches, 

 wing 12, tail 6"5, tarsus about 2*1. 



Each islet has its pair of Ospreys with a nest upon the 

 high land above the beach, which rarely exceeds five feet in 

 altitude. This year the eggs were laid early in October, and 

 I only succeeded in finding eggs on the 17th and 26th of 

 that month. Many nests contained two young birds each, 

 while one had a nestling and an addled egg. They were 

 made of a mass of coral, shells, sticks, and seaweeds, while 



