228 A(.iUILIN«. 



of tlir, maiitip ; quilU dar/i hroini, //le npppr }viiti/-i-(ircrts poh'r, tlie, lesser si^rii's with riifdHn-brovn 

 tipx : upper tdil-coviTts ami lail-fentliirii nsliiibrdim, the latter >ritli, the remaiitx tif broken lirmi'a 

 cri'^in-liiirs, irliich are iimrr i/isthict oh tlir inner web: all (he ii/iir/er mir/dre (liiJI Jiilroiis irliiti', inottlii/ 

 irreipiflarly or utredked icit/i bro/vn, ami havimi blaclnsli s/ia/t litic^ Ic must <'/ tin' Jratlurs : tin' t/iii/lis 

 atid iiwlir /a.il-corerts more uniform irliitisli, the latter rxliibitiny the remnuia of brokin broirii, 

 cross-bars ; bill and eere (//■eyish-hcrn eolonr: le(/s oit'l feet yri'ipsh-ivhite ; iris blaekisli-brmm I'litnl 

 leni/th in tlir flesh il iuehes, n'in'j /')', tail llj'-'i, bill 1 .>', tarsn,s ,,'■■/. 



Adui.t FKMAI.K. — Similar in pinmai/e to tlie mule, but sliijhtly lnr(/e,r, ]]'in(/ lH'i mrfies. 



Distribntion. — North-wettern Australia, Northern Territory of South Australia, (Jueensland, 

 New South Wales, X'ictoria, South Australia, Central Australia, Western Australia. 



||\N addition to its wide ultra-Australian ran^'e, the Whistlini,' Eaj^'le is found in fa\ourabIe 

 Jl. situations over the greater portion of the Australian continent, and is far more aliundantly 

 distributed inland than it is near the coast. It is needless to here recapitulate the many collectors 

 who have obtained, or observed it, in all the States of the continent ; it will suffice to add that 

 examples occur in nearly every important collection made inland, and also in many made in 

 coastal districts. Occasionally it occurs in the County of Cumberland. I have seen it and 

 heard its well known notes at Dobroyde and Narrabeen, and there are specimens in the Australian 

 Museum Collection, procured by I.^r. \i. P. I^amsay at Kingswood, near the Nepean Kiver, by 

 Mr. H. F. Slocombe at Glenfield, twenty-six miles south of Sydney, and by the late Mr. Henry 

 Newconibe at Randwick'. Dr. C. .\. Edwards obtained one at Waverley, and one recei\ed 

 alive from Mr. I*2dward White was captured by him in his pi^ieon house at Paddin^ton, which 

 suburb is adjacent to Sydney. It is, however, of rare occurrence near the city, and(|uite different 

 from Gould's time, who wrote of this species in his " Handbook to the Birds of .'\ustralia : — "* 

 " It is incessantly hovering over the harbours, and sides of rivers and Iap;oons, for any floating,' 

 animal substance that may present itself on the surface of the water, or be cast on the bank's; 

 and when I visited the colony in 1839 it was nowhere more eommon, or more generally to be 

 seen, than over the harbour of Port Jackson." Direct evidence of it being once a more common 

 bird in the vicinity of Sydney, is alToriled by an adult male and two females in the Australian 

 Museum Collection, procured by Mr. George Masters at Dobroyde, five miles from the city, on 

 the 22nd June, 1864. 



There is not a great variation in colour of adult specimens obtained in different parts of the 

 continent, but all have the under parts more muttled or streaked, and less uniform, than is shown 

 in Gould's figure of the adult of this species in his " birds of Australia." Far more young or 

 immature specimens, however, are obtained than adults, the latter having the feathers of the head 

 fulvous-white streaked with brownish-white, the back and upper wing-coverts brown, the former 

 streaked with white and the latter with whitish spots at their tips ; on the under surface they 

 are fulvous-white, with the feathers of the foreneck, breast and abdomen margined with brown 

 at the sides, giving the under parts a distinctly streaked appearance ; the thighs are whitish, 

 mottled or streaked with light brown. 



It usually freijuents the timber on the margins of rivers, creeks or marshes, or growing on 

 the plains, or open forest lands. In the breeding season it is generally seen in pairs, but at other 

 times often assembles in immense flocks, and is probably more common in the Central Districts 

 of New South Wales than elsewhere. 



The note is a loud whistling cry, resembling " chu chu chu chu chu," rapidly repeated 

 several times, and when once heard can be easily distinguished from that of any other of the 

 Australian Accipitres. Although uttered during the day, it may fretjuently be heard just about 

 dusk, and again occasionally through the night. 



• Handbk. Bds. Austr., p 20 (1S65). 



