210 Aciuii,i.\,f;. 



Beemery Station, near Bourke, Western New Soutli Wales, on the joth .\u.i:;ust, 1904. It 

 contained a nestling in pure white down, with lilack- (|uills, and fawn upper win,i,'-coverts, and 

 a perfectly fresh egu;, which I Lilew. On the platform were portions of egu shells, the remains 

 of rabbit skins, and a recently killed youni; rabbit. The lining of the nest consisted of dried 

 fragments of Eucalyptus leaves, broken by the sitting and the young birds from the length of 

 time they had been picked; but they are lined with fresh Eucalyptus leaves every season. This 

 nest was infested very much with insects, principally carrion beetles, usually found haunting 

 old carcasses, and attracted to it by the numerous remains of rabbits and other mammals. The 

 nest had to be drenched with bisulphide of carbon before it could be mounted and placed in the 

 collection. The underside of the nests of the Wedge-tailed Eagle are resorted to by several 

 species of smaller birds as nesting sites, but in Eastern Australia principally by Apliclvccphala 

 Iciicopsis, GcnbasilcHs chi-ysoyrhoui, and different species of Finches. Mr. .Mullen wrote: — "The 

 Eagle left the nest as soon as we approached, and never came near again. We poison the 

 Eagles on the station for killing the lambs." 



The following extracts are made from the Sydney morning papers: — "The lambing is 

 nearly over in the Denili<juin District, and averages up to 86 per cent, have be^n reported. The 

 Eagle-hawk pest is a greater nuisance this year than last, no fewer than one hundred and twenty 

 eight birds having been sent in from one station." ' " liagles are very destructi\'e in the Bourke 

 District, killing many lambs." I 



The eggs are usually two, sometimes only one, and very rarely three in number for a sitting ; 

 typically they are swollen oval in form, and occasionally almost globular, the shell being coarse- 

 grained, but smooth and lustrous in some, dull and lustreless in others, and vary considerably 

 in size. They are of a dull white ground colour, which is freckled, boldly spotted, and 

 blotched with reddish-brown, forming conlUient patches, or entire caps, and freijuently at the 

 smaller ends; on others the markings are pale brown, or they are mottled all over with pale 

 lilac-grey, as a rule, or intermingled reddish-brown and lilac-grey ; there is a tendency to form 

 large clouded patches on one part or other of the shell, while in some the markings are small and 

 almost invisible, or have a blurred appearance, or they may be entirely devoid of markings, and 

 of a uniform dull white, although occasionally they are nest stained. The latter variety closely 

 resembles the eggs of Halitetns Iciicogastey. A set of two taken by the late Mr. K. }{. Bennett, at 

 Mossgiel, New South Wales, in July, 1886, measures: — Length (A) 2-S6 x 2-36 inches; (B) 

 2-87 X 2-24 inches. The egg taken by Mr. A. W. Mullen, at Beemery Station, in the Bourke 

 District, New South Wales, in August, 1904, measures: — Length 2-72 x 2-i8 inches. .A set of 

 two taken by the late Mr. K. H. Bennett on Moolah Station, in |uly i-^jn, in the Central District, 

 New South Wales, measures : — Length (A) 3-02 x 2-26 inches; (J!) yu^ x 2"25 inches; the 

 latter egg is represented on Plate B. XIX., fig. '^. .\ set of two taken by Mr. Edward Lord 

 Ramsay at Wattagoona Station, near Louth, on the 7th July, iS>!>;, measures: — Length (.-\) 

 3-03 X 2-2S inches; (B) 3-1 x 2-44 inches. A set of two taken at Vandembah Station by the 

 late Mr. K. H. Bennett, on the 6th July, 1888, measures: — Length (A) 27 x 2-25 inches; (B) 

 2-73 X 2-24 inches. The former egg of this set is a uniform dull white, the latter freckled, 

 spotted and blotched with dilferent shades of lilac-grey, forming conlluent patches on the 

 smaller end. 



When the young are about a fortnight old they are clothed in pure white down, which is 

 long and hair-like about the head and neck, and there is just an indication of the black cjuills. 

 About five weeks old the down is very much shorter, especially on the head, where a few rufous 

 feathers appear, the upper wing-coverts and back are brown, with patches here and there of 

 white down, and the quills are dark brown, there are a few scattered darker brown feathers 

 among the down on the rump, and the short tail-feathers are brown with whity-brown tips ; on 



Sydney Morning Herald, 3rd June. 1S95. t Daily Telegrapii, 25th .Vpril. igoo. 



