AN AUSTRALIAN BIRD BOOK. 81 



1 158* Wedge- tailed Eagle, Eaglehawk (e), Uroaetus audax, 

 1 A., T. =vt. Eur. Golden Eagle (32in.). 



Stat. c. timber, plains 38 

 "Noble bird;" largest eagle known; upper, under blackish- 

 brown; feathers edged pale-brown; hind-neck golden- 

 brown; f., larger. Rabbits, rats, carrion. 

 1 159 Little Eagle, Eutolmaetus morphnoides, N.G., A. 

 4 r. timber 22 



Back of head, under rufous striped black; back, rump, 

 wings brown; tail grayish-rrown, barred blackish- 

 brown. Carrion, rats, mice. 



1 160 White-bellied Sea Eagle, Haliaetus leucogaster, Ind. 

 10 Malay to A., T., Oceania =vt. American Bald Eagle. 



r. shores 30 

 "Noble species;" white; wing-quills, base-tail blackish- 

 brown; f., larger; young; head buff; upper wings choco- 

 late-brown; under buffy-brown. Dead fish, shellfish. 

 "Floats like a great butterfly." 



2 161 Whistling-Eagle (-Hawk), Haliastur sphenurus, A., 



4 N. Cal. Norn. c. swamps, shores 24 



Under light sandy-brown streaked white; back, wings 

 brown marked lighter, spotted white; tail ashy-brown; 

 head, neck sandy streaked lighter; f., larger. Cater- 

 pillars, mice, rats, floating food. 



1 162 Allied Kite, Milvus aflinis, Sunda Is., Cel. to A. =vt. 



6 Eur. Black Kite. Nom. c. open country 20 



Upper glossy brown; wing-quills black; slightly-forked tail 

 brown; under rufous-brown; chest dark lines; f., sim. 

 Scavenger, birds. 



called the Sparrowhawk, a name which belongs to a much bolder 

 Australian bird of prey (No. 157), which does eat small birds. 



Kestrels are very fond of mice, and would, if allowed, spend 

 time protecting the farmer's haystacks, but if a Kestrel comes 

 near the farmhouse the gun is at once produced, and so the farmer 

 loses the services of one of his best friends. 



Jeffries and other Nature-lovers have written on the marvellous 

 powers of hovering possessed by these birds. In fact, the Kestrel 

 is frequently called the Windhover. In Australia Kestrels fre- 

 quently nest in a hollow tree, but do not lay the usual white egg. 



The Osprey is another example of bad naming. The word is 

 said to be a corruption of Ossifrage, the "bone-breaker." As it 

 feeds on fish, it has no big bones to break. Tt is spread from 

 "Alaska to Brazil, Lapland to Natal, Japan to Tasmania, and 

 even out to the Pacific Isles," and it may be the same bird 

 throughout, though Dr. Sharpe has allowed three species in the 

 "Handlist of Birds." "The A.O.U. Check-list of North American 

 Birds, 1910," however, recognizes the North American bird as a 

 sub-species only, so it is possible the Australian bird will be also 

 listed as a sub-species when the Royal Australasian Ornitholo- 

 gists' Union adopts its check-list in Sydney this year. These 



