i.iipiioici IMA. 241 



iawr ineh, irJnrli ts In'ttatllif murij mfii tritli irhift' as fur (is tin nufch^ nn>/ hnvim/ th.f r'luaiit'S of ft 

 jf'W bvoioi fviiss-btifs^ fJi'' s''Cfii/'/<n'tf's (iml (j i t'ltt.fr iipjif'r in it<j-coi't'rts f>n>/rn n'ltlt thd'ker bi'oivn cross- 

 bars : f/ie I'ssi'r n.iti/ nii'dinu n/jj/ir iriiHt'Cnn'rfs jm/i liroim innryiiti'.d inlh ivhily brawn, more largely 

 on tltcir imur icebs, ic/iir/i arr ifashed or lantlleil in /larls /rit/i rufous, the njiirril porfioit of some of 

 thf median coverts ItaritKj narrow blackis/i-bri/ivn shaft streaks : tail fat/o'rs brown nbore, washed 

 nnth ashy, more distinrtly on t/ttir outer webs, and having the remaiiis of brown cross-bars, and a ivell 

 dejined dtirk brnn'u lirininal bawl , all tin feathers narrowly edged with nliiti' arownd ihi'ir li/is ; 

 head and liind neck rufous, broadly streaked witli black, and having whitisli bases to tlie feathers, the 

 rufous colour decreasing on the crown of the liead, and being entiri'ly lost on th.r forehead, which is 

 wliile witli niirrmr black shaft liiii's : lores almost hare, and sparsely covered ivitli fine black hairs; 

 cinn and clocks t^riyisli-n-liitf, nnth iiarroiv black shift lines; ear-coverts grey, nith broader block 

 nhaft streaks: the entire tender sn.rface of the body rufous, the sides of (he neck washed witfi grey, the 

 feathers on the latter, the foreneck and breast broadly streaked doivn the centre tvith blackish-lirown, 

 anil passing into n-arron: black s/iaft sfrijies on the abdomen nnd llanks; imde.r tail-coverts fulvous, 

 washed with rufous, their shafts slightly darker; under surface of tail feathers light ash-colonr, vnth 

 a pale broivn terminal band ; bill blnAsh at the base, black at the tip .■ i-ere fJeshy-white : legs and feet 

 ffeshy-irliite ; iris yellou: Total length in the flesh Jl't inches, uAiig IS, tail 10, bill 1-2, tarsus ,'. 



Adult femalk. — Similar in plumage tn tlie male. 



Distrdiution. — (Queensland, \ew South Wales, \ ictoria. South Australia, Western Australia. 



igfNX addition to the square form of the expanded tail feathers of the present species, it may 

 Jl. also when perched easily be distinguished from the Fork-tailed Kite by its abnormally 

 long wings, which extend beyond the tips ofthe tail feathers, and moreover by the feathers of the 

 head forming a well-defined occipital crest. Its range, too, is more circumscribed, not being found 

 in the extreme northern and north-western portions of the continent, and it is far less abundantly 

 distributed everywhere. Gould found this species breeding at Scone, on the River Hunter, 

 New South Wales, in November, and Gilbert found a nest with young in the same month in 

 Western Australia. In ( Kieensland Mr. E. A. C. (Jli\e obtained an adult female at Cooktown 

 on ihe ist November, 1902, Mr. H. G. Barnard has taken many sets of eggs at Coomoo- 

 boolaioo and Bimbi, Duaringa, and Mr. George Masters procured an adult female at Gayndah, 

 Burnett River. In the Central District of New South Wales, Mr. IL H. Lane found it 

 breeding on several occasions on Wambangalang Station, about nineteen miles from Dubbo, 

 and while with the Calvert Exploring Expedition in July, 1896, Mr. G. A. Keartland found a 

 nest containing a nearly fledged young bird in a Cork-bark tree, in the vicinity of Lake .Augusta, 

 Western Australia. I have known the Si]uar(_--tailed Kite to be obtained in the neighbourhood 

 of Sydney on two occasions only, and in both instances the birds were driven to the coast during 

 periods of excessive drought inland. The bird on the former occasion was procured at Ash field, 

 and the latter, presented to the Trustees of the Australian Museum, at Carlingford, by Mr. F. 

 Kingcott, on the 9th September, 1895, ^-^d which is now mounted in the national collection. In 

 the crop of this specimen were found seven callow young birds. 



There is not a great deal of variation in a numbei of specimens examined, the wing- 

 measurements of adults varying from 18 to I9'5 inches. .\n adult male that lived for sometime 

 in the Botanic Gardens, Sydney, and was subsequently presented to the Trustees has, however, 

 the feathers on the forehead grey instead of white, the ear-coverts are grey with small dark 

 brown tips, and the inner lesser and median upper wing-coverts are broadly margined with rufous. 



Mr. H. G. Barnard, of Bimbi, Duaringa, (Queensland, writes me : — " 1 found three nests of 

 Lophoictinia isiira in 1907, the first on the 28th September contained one young bird just hatched 

 and two eggs, from which the beaks of the young birds were protruding. The second nest was 

 found on the 3rd October, and contained two young and an egg that was chipping ; the third 



61 



