2^8 A(JUII.IN«. 



Mr. C. Ernest Cowle, while resident at Illaniurta, Central Australia, wrote nie as follows ; — 

 " I found the large stick nest of Gy['i<idinia nie/aiiosti-nioii built out in a thick fork of the lowest 

 lateral branch of a very hij^h Gum tree, near water. I first saw the bird on the nest at sundown 

 on the i2th October, 1S96, but the latter did not contain eggs. On the 3rd Xovember I visited it 

 again, and got one slightly incubated egg, which I sent to Mr. Keartland. I do not know if this 

 species lays more than one egg, perhaps an accident happened to one, as the nest was completed 

 early in October. Birds of prey usually lay here from .Xugust to the end of October, but I noticed 

 this year they were later than usual." 



The eggs are usually two, sometimes only one, and the occasion referred to by the late Mr. 

 K. H. Bennett is the only instance I have heard of three being taken. There is a remarkably 

 fine series of these handsome eggs in the Australian Museum Collection, five of which are 

 figured on Plate B. XIV. They were all taken during September, October and November, 1S84 

 and 1885, by Mr. Bennett, while resident at Mossgiel, New South Wales, and vary in size, 

 shape, colour and disposition of markings. They are oval or rounded oval in form, a few 

 specimens only haxing a tendency to be somewhat pointed at the smaller end, the shell 

 being coarse-grained and lustreless. In ground colour they vary from almost pure white to a 

 faint reddish-white and pale buff, which is spotted and boldly blotched with light rust-red, 

 purplish-red, or umber-brown; in some intermingled with other markings of lilac-grey predomi- 

 nating as a rule at one end or the other, where they are conHuent and frequently form a large 

 cap, as in Fig. 2 of Plate B. XIV., the remainder of the shell being more sparingly covered 

 with smaller markings of a paler hue. Others have the ground colour almost obscured with 

 stipplings, or fleecy markings of light red, as shown in Fig. .">, while a still lighter variety has 

 the almost pure white ground colour sparingly marked witli minute freckles and fine short hair 

 lines of purplish-brown. The latter type is the smallest of all the specimens now before me, 

 and measures 2-37 x rSg inches; the largest measures 2'ri x 1-97 inches; and the other egg 

 of the latter set 2-53 x 1-93 inches. A set of two measures : — Length (A) 2'r)i x r93 inches; 

 (B) 2-45 X 1-9 inches. Four eggs measure respectively: — Length (A) 2-38 x 2 inches; (B) 

 2-50 x 1-85 inches; (C) 2-5 x 1-72 inches; (D) 2-52 x 1-82 inches. 



Two nestlings in the Australian Museum Collection, about a month old, taken by Mr. 

 K. H. Bennett, at Mossgiel, respectively on the 24th October and the 6th November, 1885, 

 each being the sole occupant of the nest, are co\ered with pure white down, short rich rufous 

 feathers appearing on the nape, hind-neck, back, scapulars, and upper wing-coverts; ends of 

 the protruding quill feathers blackish-brown narrowly edged around the tips with light rufous- 

 brown, the short tail-feathers dull purplish-red ; on the foreneck, flanks and under tail-coverts a 

 few rufous-brown feathers, and a small patch on the centre of the abdomen cinnamon-brown ; 

 "bill dark horn colour, cere bluish, space in front of the eye lead colour, iris clear light brown 

 ( Bennett). 



A young bird about six weeks old, taken by Mr. ISennett from a nest near Mossgiel, on 

 the 4th December, 18S5, has the general colour above and below rusty-rufous, slightly paler on 

 the head and under parts, some of the feathers on the crown of the head, hind-neck and breast 

 with a narrow blackish central streak, those on the back, scapulars and median upper wing- 

 coverts more broadly centred with black ; the greater wing-coverts blackish with rusty rufous 

 margins; quills dark brown, narrowly edged with pale rufous around the tip, the outer webs of 

 some of them having a distinct greyish wash; upper tail-coverts brown with large rusty-rufous 

 tips ; tail-feathers greyish edged with pale rufous around their tips, the inner webs of the central 

 pair edged with light fulvous. Wing 10 inches. 



The breeding season in New South Wales commences at the latter end of August, eggs 

 being more frequently found in September and October, rarely as late as November, and usually 

 terminating by the end of December, but it would probably be the end of January or even 

 later when the young leave the nest, hatched from the eggs laid early in November. 



