CIHCUS. 



The Spotted Harrier is widely distributed in fa\ourable siiuations over the t;reater portion 

 of the Australian Continent. In the Australian Museum Collection there are specimens 

 obtained by .Mr. Geortje Masters at King George's Sound, in Western Australia, and by IMr. E. 

 J. Saunders, thirty-six miles south-west of Roeburne, in N>)rth-western Australia. By far, 

 however, the greater number were procured in New South Wales, and notably among others 

 by the late Mr. K. H. liennelt, in the Lachlan River District, who secured young in down, and 

 semi-adults and adults of both se.xes ; specimens were also rtceived from Goulburn, presented 

 by iMr. A. M. N. Rose, and from Botany, procured by Mr. H. Burns. 



In New South Wales it is essentially 

 an inhabitant of the large inland grassy 

 plains, but is occasionally met with in 

 scrub-covered wastes near the coast. 

 I noted it \ery numerous in November 

 on the plains between Breeza and 

 Narrabri, usually trying just a few feet 

 above the tops of the waving sea of 

 luxuriant grass in search of prey, ever 

 and anon dropping into concealment 

 as it secured, perchance, some hapless 

 bird or small mammal. When soaring 

 not too high, one can usually distinguish 

 this species when on the wing by the 

 lighter colour of the under surface of 

 the wings, and its distinctly barred tail. 

 As a rule, however, it is shy and does 

 not admit of too close an approach. 



The food of the Spotted Harrier 

 consists usually of small birds, mam- 

 mals and reptiles. The stomach of 

 one I examined, shot at Randwick, 

 contained a mouse and the remains of 

 a number of insects. 



SPOTTRt) HAHRIKR. 



iVpart from the great variation in 

 the young and adult of this species, a 

 great difference may be observed also 



in individual adult specimens. Some have the entire under surface spotted with white, others 



have the foreneck pale bluish-slate colour like the facial ruff. 



The late Mr. K. H. Bennett, while resident at \'andembah Station, near Booligal, New 

 South Wales, wrote me : — ^^ Citrus assimilis is in these parts of migratory habits, usually arriving 

 about the end of August and departing again after breeding, about February. It frequents the 

 plains and open country, being rarely found in thick timber, and it preys chiefly upon small 

 reptiles and such birds as Quail, Larks, &c., to which is added large insects such as grasshoppers 

 and Mantis. The nest, which is generally placed amongst the dense branches of some small 

 tree, is a loosely built structure composed of small sticks, almost flat, and lined with a few 

 green Eucalyptus leaves, and usually about twenty to thirty feet from the ground. It lays two 

 or three eggs. This bird nests about the middle of September or October, the young birds 

 leaving the nest usually about the end of November or December. It constructs a fresh nest 

 every year. <^n the 24th September, i88g, I found a nest built in the top of a Pine about 

 twenty feet from the ground, containing two fresh eggs, and on the i6th September, iSgo, I 



