UHO.M'US. 20.') 



'•Altliou-h Wed-e-tailed Ka-le^ prey to a lar-e extent on rabbits, they do not always 

 contine themselves to small (juarry of this description, for in (i.ppsland I have often seen them 

 attack full thrown native bears, and on one occasion a pair attacked a lialf thrown kan.L^aroo, but 

 I did not see the result, as it was in a thickly timbered place. When they passed me the 

 kangaroo was .<,'oinj; at its utmost speed, with one Ea-le perched units neck and flapping its 

 wings about its face, evidently with the intention of terrifying and confusing it, the other Eagle 

 flying alongside. I also saw, on another occasion, a pair kill a full grown dingo. I did not see 

 the commencement of the attack, but when I came across them they had evidently been at the 

 dog some time, for he was very much exhausted, and was staggering alon- in an aimless manner. 

 One Eagle was perched on the dog's neck and flapping its wings, the other perched on his loins ; 

 occasionally the latter would turn his head and snap in a feeble manner at the Eagle, who would 

 simply fly up, and the next instant drop on the loins again. This continued for some time, the 

 dingo evidently getting weaker and weaker, until he stumbled, fell and lay perfectly still. I saw 

 the Eagles walking round him, and then begin tearing at his flank with their bills. I waited 

 and watched for some little time longer, and then rode up and found the dingo, which was in fine 

 condition, quite dead. Although the Bridled Wallaby ( Onycho^alc fmiata, Gould), is not strictly 

 nocturnal on the Lower Lachlan River, in Southern New South Wales, it is very rarely met 

 with away from the shelter of the dense bush or scrub during the day. The reason of this is its 

 dread of its terrible enemy, the Wedge-tailed Eagle, this bird destroying great numbers, 

 particularly during the nesting season, when the nests and the ground beneath are strewed with 

 the remains of this animal. 



" The note of the Wedge-tailed Eagle is well represented by the syllables ■ Dirra lich, Dirra 

 lich,' quickly repeated several times in a shrill tone. This bird as a rule nests in the early part 

 of July, and the young leave the nest about the end of November. On one occasion, liowever, 

 I found a nest containing young ones early in July." 



Mr. Robert Grant, Taxidermist of the Australian Museum, has handed me the following 



notes :— '■ In November, i,S«3, while on a collecting trip at Colliburi Station, Narromine, New 



South Wales, Mr. Stevenson, one of the proprietors, pointed out a Wedge-tailed Eagle's nest 



in a large Gum-tree close to the river, and told me that it contained young, as he had noticed 



the birds carrying food to the nest. As I was anxious to secure both parent birds and young, 



I was up at sunrise next morning, and placed myself in concealment within gunshot of the tree. 



Although I w-aited there three hours neither of the parent birds came near, and I left for camp, 



one of my companions relieving me. We watched in turn all that day and the next, with th ' 



same result, and then decided to cut down the tree, as it was hopeless to attempt to climb to the 



nest. After some hard work we felled the tree, and when the dust had cleared away we found 



a young bird apparently about a week old, and fortunately alive. The heap of sticks and 



rubbish of which the nest was formed would have filled a large dray ; in it were the remains of 



small wallabies, ' Wood Duck,' Straw-necked and White Ibises, and a White-fronted Heron. 



We remained in the vicinity another two days, but I only saw one of the parent birds once, and 



that was at a great height in the air. I took the Eaglet home with me to Lithgow, and we had 



no difficulty in rearing it, as it could eat butcher's meat and small birds readily. When it 



reached maturity we built a large aviary of battens. Eor the first five years its head and neck 



feathers were of a pale fawn colour, for a similar period they were rich rufous-brown on these 



parts. After the next moult, and when ten years old, the entire plumage changed to a glossy 



black, and remained so ever afterwards. During its captivity it was answerable for the lives 



of a few domestic cats that used to go into its aviary after the meat or birds, but although it 



killed them it did not eat them. When eighteen years of age this Eagle met with its death in a 



tragic manner ; the yard of our house adjoined the Lithgow Iron-works, and the burning slag 



set fire to its aviary, and although my brother quickly rescued it at the time, it only lived a few 



hours, the shock killing it. On skinning and dissecting the bird it was found to be a male. 



e 



