EL ANUS. 251 



it completed. Lar^'e nuinbersof tliis \ ery useful bird are shot annually. They feed principally 

 upon mice, lizards and ijrasshoppers. 



Mr. Savidge writin-; me on the 2.Sth June, 1897, remarks: — "I found a nest of Elanus 

 axillaris near South Grafton, on the 15th June, containing two recently hatched young. This 

 year I first noted its arrival in the district on the 7th April. I saw a pair carrying sticks to 

 a nest yesterday, built in the thick bushy top of a long leaning thin t)ranch of a very high 

 Spotted (jum tree. Later on in the evening 1 saw them hovering over a maize field, descending 

 now and again catchnii; mice ; when a bird caught one it would fly with it to the dead limb of 

 a tree, when it was quickly torn to pieces and devoured. Writing again on the 22nd July, 1897, 

 he remarks: — "I foinid another nest of Elanus axillavis building to-day in the leafy top of 

 a Broad-leaved Apple-tree (Aiii;vpliorc! snhvclutina), and not \'ery high up. From the nest I 

 first found, this morning 1 saw some Crows trying to get the eggs. One of the lilack- 

 shouldered Kites was on the nest, and the other was charging the Crows, of which there were at 

 least tialf a dozen, and trying to drive them away. The Crows persevered for a long time, but 

 I do not think they would get the eggs, as the Kite does not leave the nest while they are about. 

 Subsequently, on the 2Sth July, Mr. Savidge's Aboriginal successfully scooped three eggs from 

 the nest built in the .\pple-tree. Writing; in August, 1897, Mr. Savidge informed me that he 

 took a set of four eggs of i;/(7;z//s (t-i/V/irm on the 4th August; also a set of three on the 20th 

 Aui^ust, and remarks : — " The place these birds nest in is nearly always in a thick bushy part 

 of the topmost branches of trees. Occasionally they take a long time to construct the nest, a 

 pair that built near my house taking six weeks before the nest was finished. When my black- 

 fellow was climbing to a nest which contained young, one of the old birds hovered over the nest 

 to see that all was right, then settled on a neighbourin.-,' tree, puffing out its feathers and uttering 

 a loud clucking noise. These birds are fearless of man, building close to settlers' houses. 1 have 

 seen them here in previous years, but never so plentiful since 1893." 



Mr. (i. A. Keartiand writes me from Melbourne, X'ictoria :—" The Black-shouldered Kite 

 f£/ii;;»s (;.v;7/<;rii) is often seen near Melbourne. The adult is a beautiful bird, with its snow- 

 white underparts and slaty-grey back, but the young ones have a rusty-brown wash on the white 

 feathers, which conveys the idea that they have been stained with water from a clay hole. They 

 live principally on mice and grasshoppers, but do not interfere with poultry. In Central 

 Australia I saw them hunting for food amongst the Tviodia, where small Jerboa, mice and lizards 

 were numerous." 



Mr. Tom Carter sends the following note from Broome Hill, South-western Australia: — 

 " The Black-shouldered Kite f Elanus axillai-is) was very uncertain in its appearance in North- 

 western Australia, several years passing at times without any being observed. During the drought 

 of i8gr many were on the coast, and some were picked up both there and inland, dead, in a very 

 emaciated condition. Considerable numbers of these birds roosted every night for some time 

 in two or three stunted trees near the homestead. The next appearance of this species was in 

 the good (wet) season of 1900, when they were fairly common on the coast and inland, but very 

 shy. A pair of them reared their young in a Wattle-tree, about eight feet from the ground, in 

 one of my paddocks. The ejected pellets below the nest consisted almost entirely of remains 

 (bones and fur] of mice. 



The nest is an open and slightly cup-shaped structure, formed of long, thin leafy twigs, 

 chiefly of a Eucalyptus, the eggs usually being deposited on a layer of leaves, an average one 

 measuring twelve inches and a half external diameter, depth six inches, and tlie inner cup six 

 inches and a half in diameter by three inches in depth. Two I saw while staying with Mr. 

 Savidge at Copmanhurst, in November 1898, and from which Mr. William Griftiths had 

 successfully scooped two sets of three eggs, were built in the leafy topmost branches of 

 \irozd-\e^\'eA :\}p'p\e-Unes (An^oplwra sulmlutina). Another nest near Mr. Savidge's house he 



