UKCl.KTLIS. 207 



Mr. G. A. Keartland writes from Aielhourne, Victoria :—" Decided difference of opinion 

 prexails a'^ to wiiether the W'ed'^e-tailed Ea.Ljie is a useful or destructive bird. The squatters 

 \vaf;e war against it with riHe, trap and poison because, they assert, it kills lambs. Others who 

 ha\'e studied the bird carefully, and examined tlieir nests containing young ones, claim that 

 it lives almost exclusively on rabbits and hares, where they can lie obtained. That they will 

 feast on the carcase of any dead beast is well known, hence the number killed by poison. I 

 once made a number of cuts in a dead cow, and treated each with strychnine, intending to 

 poison dingoes. Next day we found seven dogs and nine Eagles poisoned. But in the interior 

 of Australia it is interesting to watch a pair of these birds hunting wallabies, bandicoots, &c. 

 .At Finke Gorge, in the Macdomiell Kan.^es, I saw several pairs working amongst the rocks. 

 They soared at a great hei.L;ht until they had located their prey, and then one would fly as close 

 to the wallaby as possible, but owing to the length of its wings the (juarry escaped by keeping 

 close to the rocks and dodging around the lioulders. But if the animal tried to cross an open 

 space it was at once seized. \\'hen crossing the margin of the Great Desert of North-western 

 Australia, we frequently watched these birds hunting in couples. First they soared high in 

 the ail, and flew away tor some distance, but soon returned, one skimming along close to the 

 Spinifex, wliilst the other remained about one hundred feet abose. If the lower bird missed 

 its victim the other took up the chase, the birds changing positions until they were successful. 

 .At Beveridge, N'ictoria, I noticed sixteen Fagles laying high overhead, and although there was a 

 great number of newly born lambs in several paddocks within sight, they were not molested, 

 but two of the Eagles came down flying near a post and rail fence, where they disturbed a hare, 

 which followed the line of the fence for some distance and then stopped under the rail. One 

 Eagle perched on the fence about fifty yards behind the hare, l)ut its mate flew ahead for about 

 two hundred yards, and then perched on a post. The hare was disturbed again, and chased 

 until it approached the bird on the post, which spread its wings, scaring the hare into the open, 

 when it was caught by the pursuing bird." 



Dr. A. M. Morgan writes as follows from .Adelaide, South Australia: — " Ui'Ou-liis aiuiax is 

 fairly common throughout South .Australia. I have either taken or received eggs from every part, 

 including Central Australia and the Northern Territory. .Almost invariably one egg is markedly 

 lighter in colour than the other. On the 27th .August, i>ig(\ I took asingleegg from a nest near 

 Point Sturt, Lake Alexandrina, which was almost pure white, and so conclude that the light 

 coloured egg is laid first, but unfortunately the bird did not lay a second egg, which of course 

 might have been white also, as I have seen a clutch of two taken on Yorke Peninsula which 

 were lioth quite white. At the I''innis River I knew of an old nest, almost fifty feet from the 

 ground, in a dead Gum tree standing out on a plain, which had not been occupied for nine years. 

 On the 2ist .August, 1898, I was driving past it with my brother, when we saw a pair of birds 

 soaring over it. My brother climbed up, and found two slightly incubated eggs. On the nth 

 August, lyoo, I found a nest in the Gawler Ranges, Imilt in a Myall, the bottom of which could 

 be easily reached from the ground ; it was lined with green Myall leaves, but contained no eggs. 

 .All the clutches of which I have dates were talcen in July and August." 



During a trip made by Dr. .A. M. Alor^an in July and .Vu.nust, 1900, to Mount Gunson, one 

 hundred and forty miles north-west of Port Augusta, a nest of Ui'drtiis audax was found at 

 Monaleena on the 2nd August, containing two slightly incubated eggs, and another at the former 

 place, in a large Gum tree, which was inaccessible; the bird was sitting in the latter nest. In 

 .August of the following year, in company with Dr. Chenery, " these birds were found common 

 throughout a trip made from Port .Vugusta to the Gawler Ranges. They were seen singly, or 

 in pairs soaring or feeding on carcasses of sheep. Only one nest was found, in a small Myall 

 about live feet from the ground : it was lined with green leaves, and was just ready for eggs." 



