22G Ai^uii.iN.i; 



have been taken another nest is usualiy buik, but in one case the second clutch was laid 

 three weeks and five days after the tirst ckitch was secured. Upwards ot thirty nests were 

 examined, the number of ef,'^'s t(j the clutch bein^; as often one as two; in almost every case 

 the et;,L;s were much stained by mud, clean fresh lookinj^ clutches beinf,' rare. The breeding 

 months are August, September and (October. Mr. Nielsen reports that when watching a Jabiru 

 (Xniiirhyiu'/iiis dsidtiiiisj feeding in shallow water, the bird caught a fair sized fish, which 

 was rather too large to swallow hurriedly. Two White-breasted Sea- Eagles, who were evidently 

 upon the lookout, immediately attaclced the Jabiru, and worried it considerably until the hsh 

 was swallowed." 



Mr. George Savidge sends nie the following notes from Copmanhurst, New South Wales; — 

 " I have not had much opportunity of observing the habits of Haliastur iiirrcncra, l)ut there is 

 one pair always about Yaniba Bay, Clarence River Heads. I have seen them after the fishermen 

 have hauled their nets come to the place and pick up and carry away the small fish sometimes 

 left there. (_)ne pair came regularly nearly every morning, and perched on a high piece of 

 jutting rock ijuite close to our house ; the rock formed part of the retaining wall there. The 

 fisherman whom I mentioned the fact to told me these birds often take away any fish left 

 about, and even take the fish from the nets, which are left for a few hours, the fishermen often 

 coming home before daylight, and their nets bundled ashore, to be [jung up later on. I was 

 shown fish with their claw marks quite plain on them. No person at \'amba as far as I could 

 ascertam knows their breeding place, but they seem \ ery tame, and the fisherman said they were 

 quite a nuisance to him. Durmg one of our dry seasons, in igo2 I think, a pair resided about 

 Copmanhurst Wharf for seveial months during the winter time; they were living principally 

 upon the garfish which came up that year in \ ery large shoals. This pair of birds remained so 

 long I was in hopes they would breed, but as spring came they disappeared. Their l)acks are a 

 beautiful chestnut-red when they wheel about, and the sun shines upon them." 



Mr. G. A. Keartland, of Melbourne, X'ictoria, has sent me the following notes ; — " The White- 

 breasted Sea.-E.ag\e ( Hnlicistuy f;ii')'('Ufra) was frequently seen on the I'itzroy River, near ilsjunction 

 with the Margaret River, about one hundred and fifty miles inland from King's Sound, in Nortli- 

 western Australia. These birds were either perched on the topmost branches of the highest trees, 

 or flying slowly near the surface of the water. The Aborigines assert that whilst perched they are 

 either resting or looking for some unwary fish basking in the sunshine. Having discovered their 

 intended victim, they fly close to the water and seize the fisli as they pass over it. They construct 

 large stick nests in the high trees on the margin of the Fitzroy Ivixer." 



From Broome Idill, South-western .Australia, Mr. Tom Carter writes ; — " The White- 

 headed Sea-Eagle (Iliilidihn- f^inruii'a ) was fairly abundant in North-western .Australia from the 

 North-west Cape and Exmouth Gulf northwards, especially where large areas of Mangroves 

 grow. I have seen odd birds as far as twenty-five miles inland, on a flooded White Gum flat. 

 They are not seen much from August to November, when they doubtless retire to the dense 

 Mangroves to breed. 1 found one nest near the North-west Cape, built in the Mangroves. It was 

 not much larger than a Crow's nest, and the ground below was littered with claws and bits of 

 shell of the yellow land crab, on which these birds largely feed. On several occasions I have 

 picked up birds that had died from eating poisoned baits laid for wild dogs." 



Gould remarks ; ■' — " This species, says Gilbert in his notes from Port Essington, is pretty 

 generally spread throughout the peninsula and the neighbouring islands, and may be said to be 

 tolerably abundant. It breeds from the beginning of July to the end of August. 1 succeeded 

 in finding two nests, each of which contained two eggs ; but I am told three are sometimes found. 

 The nest is formed of sticks, with fine twigs or coarse grass as a lining ; it is about two feet in 



' Handbk. Bds. Au<;tr , Vol I . p. i8 (1SC5). 



