230 AvL'lLIS.K 



on the side 'jf a nest which had been built the pre\ious season; this suit uf thing continued 

 until towards the end of August. In the meantime a pair of l\a\ens luiilt their nest in 

 the same tree, from which I took hve eggs on August ijtli. Sliortly alter this I was busy 

 with the shearing for a few weeks, after which, while riding past tiie tree, I saw two young 

 Whistling l*;agles sitting upon the Ra\ ens' nest, and the old F.agles' nest was not used at all during 

 that season. 1 find that the liirds (jn the whole vary as much in their habits as they do in their 

 plumage at various ages. They are extremely erratic in the time they commence breeding, 

 although strictly speaking tliey practically breed the whole year, but still they have what might 

 be called their proper nesting season. During ujo; I t(Jok the hrst set of eggs on July loth, 

 iyo8 .April ijth, lyog May i.Sth, and ujio March 3th. Their l)reeding appears to be governed 

 by the amount of food there is for them ; for instance, during 1907 all the rabbit destruction here 

 was done with phosphorus, and uKjst of the rabbits died in their burrows, and the ICagles could 

 not get them, so food was scarce, and 1 only toolc four sets of their eggs during the whole year. 

 During igoS w'e had a \ery serious drought, and heavy losses in stock all through the winter, 

 consequently there was plenty of food for the Eagles, and I took thirty-two sets of their eggs. 

 During 1909 I used strychnine to poison the rabbits, and spring traps for the first time; again 

 there was a plentiful supply of food, and I took thirty sets of their eggs. In lyio I again used 

 strychnine and spring traps, and being a cool summer I con;menced rabbit destruction at the 

 beL;inning of the year. The result was this species commenced nestins* earlier than I have ever 

 known before, and I took thirty-five sets of their eggs. It is a most extraordinary thing that 

 during the lirst six and a half years I lived here (from June lyoo to the end of igo6) as far as my 

 recollection goes, I did not see more than half a dozen nests, in fact the birds were not here in 

 anything like such numbers as they have been during the three last years. Some of their nests 

 which have been in use, and added to for the last three years, and sometimes two or three times 

 in the same season, are now immense structures, but wlien a nest is just built, and in use for the 

 first time, it is rather a small nest for so large a bird, and very roughly put together. The 

 lining consists usually of only a few green Eucalyptus leaves, which by the time the eggs are 

 hatched, have worked down to a very small space in the centre of the nest, consequently it is 

 about as uncomfortable a cradle for such a helpless young bird as one could imagine. One 

 extraordinary nest which came under my notice was built about seventy-five feet from the ground, 

 in a large Yellow Box-tiee ; the nest was one of the largest I have ever seen, and was constructed 

 of sticks and dead rabbits, not just the remains of a few dead rabbits on top of the nest, but 

 from the commencement to the finished whole rabbits had been used, and the legs and heads 

 were projecting from the sticks on all sides of the nest. I ha\ e seen their nests built at various 

 heights from the ground, from ten feet to ninety-three feet, in this district the lowest nest I 

 found was twenty-three feet, but the most of them are from si.xty to eighty feet high, and usually 

 very difficult to climb to, and in most cases I have had to use a scoop to get the eggs. In the 

 Bourke District, where the timber is mostly small, I have seen their nests in great numbers 

 (although most of them had finished breeding, being late in the year) in the Coolibah trees, two 

 of them were ten and twehe feet from the ground, very few more than fifty feet, and the majority 

 could be climbed to by almost any small school boy. In the Cobbora District I should 

 say about thirty per cent, of the nests used are old Ravens; these they appear to have a great 

 inclination for, and will often take possession of one almost immediately the Ravens have left it. 

 1 killed four young Ravens in a nest on .'\ugust 6th, ujoy ; twenty days later I took a set of two 

 eggs of //. sphfiiiinis, and this is not the only instance of such an occurrence. They usually 

 build in a tree in the vicinity of water, such as Red Gums along rivers, or Coolibahs around a 

 swamp, but in the Arinatree District I noticed most of their nests were placed near the top of 

 large Pine trees. I have ne\er yet known them to build in an Ironbark-tree, although there 

 are thousands of acres of Ironbark country just outside my boundary, and some of the trees are 

 very large, and are favourite nesting trees with I'votrtns aiidn.v. On the whole I find them a 



