74 AN AUSTRALIAN BIRD BOOK. 



The American Bobolink and Chickadee are famous birds, 

 chiefly on account of an appropriate name; so is the British 

 Cuckoo, while its even more noisy, more common, and practically 

 identical Australian cousin is still unknown, or rather was until 

 recently. The introduction of Bird Day has already produced 

 gratifying results. We need good descriptive names for our 

 varied and beautiful birds — more children's and poets' names, and 

 less of the deadly formal "Yellow-vented Parrakeet," "Blue-bellied 

 Lorikeet," and "Warty-faced Honeyeater" for some of the most 

 glorious of the world's birds. 



The old Order Raptores — birds of prey— included Hawks and 

 Eagles, and Owls. These are now placed in two orders as 

 "Diurnal Birds of Prey" — Hawks, and "Nocturnal Birds of 

 Prey" — Owls. They all seize prey with the very well-developed 

 talons, and not with the bill. Hence they were called Raptores — 

 seizing birds. They use these talons when flying, and do not 

 catch prey in scrub, or very close to the ground, unless in a clear 

 space. 



The two Harriers are typically Ground Hawks. The name is 

 said to be derived from the habit these birds are said to possess 

 of harrying birds. They are generally called "Swamp Hawks," 

 and may frequently be seen flying low over bushes, to beat 

 birds out. 



The Goshawks — i.e., Goosehawks — possibly received their name 

 by confusion, as possibly a Falcon to hunt Geese was kept in 

 olden days, but probably it was not this bird. Three of these 

 birds are rare. The White Goshawk is a fine bird, and is 

 confined to Australia and Tasmania. The Australian Goshawk 

 is said to be the only troublesome Hawk, to the poultry 

 farmer, and he bears a bad name generally. The Lesser Gos- 

 hawk is a casual visitor in the Eastern States. 



The Sparrowhawk of the ornithologist is much feared by small 

 birds. He lurks in ambush, suddenly flashes out upon his prey, 

 and is away with it instantly. The male is one of the 

 smallest of Hawks. It is an almost universal rule in this order 

 of birds that the females are larger, often much larger, than the 

 males, and that there are several changes of plumage before the 

 adult plumage is finally donned, so it is often a matter of diffi- 

 culty to determine exactly the name of one of these birds. 



Eagles are found the world over except in New Zealand. Our 

 Eagle has the honor of being, as already stated, the largest Eagle 

 in the world. It is also of undoubted courage, as its specific 

 name, audax (bold) would lead one to suppose. It is, further, 

 Gould says, of a "far more pleasing and elegant contour" than the 

 Golden Eagle, the "pride and pest of the parish." Whoever heard 

 of an Australian who was proud of his Eagle, though it is some- 

 thing to be proud of? Let our noble bird appear near a house, 

 and there is a rush for a gun. On Eyre Peninsula we found the 

 Eagles fed their young on rabbits, a serious pest in Australia. 



The equivalent of our Sea Eagle is the White-headed or Bald 

 Eagle of America, the female of which is the same length as the 



