GYPOIC'TINIA. 



247 



and a lutle further along the creek found her nest, a large stick-made flat nest, newly lined w.th 

 Gum leaves, placed as the other was in the fork of a horizontal limb, but only at a hei-ht of 

 twenty feet from the ground. There were no eggs. Mr. McLennan visited this nest a fortnight 

 later, and found it deserted. He also visited the nest on Yalcowinna Creek, and found one e-- 

 in it very like the one taken in September. "" 



"On visiting our old tree on Yalcowinna Creek, in September, u,ii, where we had found 

 this spec.es nesting for three successive years, we found it deserted by the birds, although there 

 was evidence in the shape of an old nest in a new situation that they had utilised the tree last 

 year. I flushed a bird, however, from the Sleepswell Creek nest, which we found in 1909 ; this 

 year it contained two line eggs, which were on the point of hatchinj^, one being chipped This 

 nest IS quite low down in an old Creek Gum, and just below the nest was a hollow occupied by 

 five almost fully fledged Barnard Parrakeets." 



From Orange, New South Wales, Mr. E. H. Lane writes me as follows ;--" I have never 

 had the pleasure of robbing a Black-breasted Buzzard's nest, but send you reliable notes from my 

 friend, Mr. H. S. Burcher, who has had many years experience in the Mossgiel District. I <rot 

 the hrst set of Buzzard's eggs from Mr. Burcher in iSgy, the handsomest and largest 

 specimens I have ever seen, and taken on the 24th September. Mr. Burcher being in South 

 Africa in 1900, I arranged with a person on the station to collect for me, and during that year 

 he took a set of two eggs on the i6th September, and another set of two eggs on the 14th October. 

 Unfortunately this man left the station before the nesting season, and as my friend did not go to 

 the district again until 1905, I lost the previous four years' harvest. Mr. Burcher found another 

 nest that year, which he robbed of two eggs on the 22nd September, and on the 26th October, 

 1905, he took two more from the same nest. He linally left the Mossgiel District in 1906, and 

 I have failed to get any more of these eggs since." 



Through Mr. E. H. Lane I have also been favoured by the following notes from Mr. H. S. 

 Burcher:— "On Conoble Station, forty miles north-east from Mossgiel, New South Wales, I 

 took two eggs of the Black-breasted Buzzard on the 23rd August, 1897, and another egg from 

 the same nest about the 20th September. In 1898 I took an egg on the 24th September, and 

 heard in November from a friend on an adjoining station that a nest of this species contained 

 two young ones. In 1895 ^Ir. Lindsay Cameron took two eggs from the same nest as I did, 

 and one egg from it in 1896, and heard from Mr. Whitty, the manager of an adjoining station, 

 that the Black-breasted Buzzards had young ones in the same nest for the previous five or si.x 

 years. When this species is breeding it is very slow in taking fright from any one approaching 

 near the nest, but once it is hunted ofif it flies right away, and does not return for some time. 

 They keep about the nesting place for some two months or more, and reline the nest with gum 

 leaves about a month before laying. I have seen these birds eating Emu eggs after breaking 

 them ; on one occasion a large piece of bone was in the nest, and in the other a lump of burnt clay.'' 

 From Melbourne Mr. G. A. Keartland writes me :— " During the journey of the Horn 

 Scientihc Expedition in Central Australia, in 1894, several examples of Gvpoktinia mdanosteruon 

 were seen soaring overhead at Darwent Creek, the white bases of the primaries showing strongly 

 in contrast with their almost black breasts, but no specimens were secured. I unsuccessfully 

 tried to get near one which was busily engaged in devouring the remains of a wallaby, stopping 

 only now and again to dispute the feast with a dingo, nor was our black-boy more fortunate'' 

 Since our return, however, Mr. C. E. Cowle, of lUamurta, sent me a fine egg of this species. 

 Again in North-western Australia the Black-breasted Kite was noted by the members of the 

 Calvert Exploring Expedition in 1897. On Ouanbun Station, Fitzroy River, I counted fifty- 

 seven on the ground at one time. They do not frequent the trees like the other Accipitres, except 

 when visiting their nest, but when full of food just stand on the ground like a stump, in which 

 position they remain lor hours. It is said they will not eat dead food, but I saw one feeding on a 

 kangaroo I shot the previous day, and sometimes they fall victims to the poisoned carcasses 

 prepared for wild dogs. We did not obtain eggs, but found two old nests." 



