UKO,t.TU.S. 



201 



while: has,- ,,/ tlip. loivrr taandibl.' and ya.pf jl, sh a,l„H.r ; hy^ ,n„l jWl ,lull irhilish, claw.^ bliiek ; 

 iris Uyhl yellmrixh bn.wn. Total hnyfh i„ fhf Jh'sh .SS-', incliPs, iriny .'.;-.7, tail /7-~.7, hill .'-7, 

 /nrstis 4-''-'''- 



Adult kkmalk. — ^iinilur in pliunay,' l,j (h< ukiI, . 



Distriliiition.-'North-west.eni Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, \'ictoria, South 

 AustraHa, Central Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania. 



/T^HI-: Wedge-tailed l-Iagle, or more familiarly known " Eagle-hawk," is generally distributed 

 J- in favourable situations over the greater portion of the Australian continent and 



Tasmania ; it is, however, more abundant in some places than others, and more particularly in 



the inland portions of the States than it is near 

 the coast, and where in some localities it may be 

 entirely absent. It also fre.iuents rocky mountam 

 ranges, and one of the hnest sights to an Orni- 

 thologist is to see a pair of these birds circling 

 around on the wing, for they are often the only 

 moving olijects above a wilderness of trees and 

 stones, and undoubtedly add to the grandeur and 

 beauty of the landscape. This has appealed to 

 me more forcibly in the neighbourhood of the 

 mammoth Druidical rock-like remains of Stone- 

 henge. in the New England District, New South 

 Wales, but neither in mountain range nor amid 

 crags and peaks is the Wedge-tailed Eagle more 

 numerous than it is among the scattered timber 

 of the inland wide-spreading plains. 



Its natural food consists of various mammals 

 and birds, chiefly wallabies, kangaroo-rats, young 

 dingoes and kangaroos, native bears and opossums, 

 ;^ pigeons, cockatoos, ducks and herons, also the 

 r.^-?^ larger species of lizards. Since the advent of 

 >i^" white settlers in .Vustralia, it has also turned its 

 attention to their flocks and herds, and is more 

 ^^^ particularly destructive in the lambing season. In 

 some districts it is worse than in others, the pastora- 

 list seeing in these birds the most relentless enemies 

 of his flocks, and kills and poisons them when 

 opportunities offer. On the other hand, where the introduced hares and rabbits are numerous, 

 the Wedge-tailed Eagle preys to a large e.xtent on them, and renders good service to the 

 pastoralist. Mr. A. M. N. Rose wrote me from Boloco, New South Wales:—" Mr. W. Crisp, 

 of Rock Flat, near Cooma, informs me that one day in November, igoo, he counted forty-two 

 Eagles in one of his paddocks, and many people thought they ought not to be destroyed, 

 for although they did harm in killing lambs, they did more good in killing hares and rabbits." 



Wedge-tailed Eagles or "Eagle-hawks" are placed among the "Noxious Animals" in New 

 South Wales. In the Official Report for the year, 1S99, of the Stock and Brands Branch of 

 the Department of Agriculture of New South Wales, it is stated that during that year tlie 

 Pastures and Stock Protection Boards throughout the State paid bonuses on 7865 " Eagle- 

 hawks " killed, Tamworth District heading the list with 1204 birds destroyed. In the Oftkial 

 Report of the same department for the year 1907, it is stated that bonuses were paid only on ^^^ 



WEDGE-TAILED EAGLF. 



