25 i A(,!UILIN.E. 



ili-licdlflij ^IkhIi'iI irilli ijriij : ffii/lurs in frijiil aud almrr tltf. ii/e hlnck : fnrilii'dil, nU //c itmler siirface 

 ami undi'r tailcnr: r/s ivliitr .- uinh r ivitni-Cnri'rls ami nxiUarun hlack., the tinhr serirs iif llif jurnvr 

 >rliiti\ awl ill'' loioff um'S yi'i'y irilli ti ilnsk[i ivnnk : hill hlarh-. iv/v i/elloio : lajs ii/nl J''el i/pII(iii' .■ iris 

 rrd. ToUil hnijllt in llif flrsli. 1.!!^.', inches, /ring 1:\ fail (r4, I'dl <>'9^ tarsus I'o. 

 Adult femalk. — Similar in jilmmuje Id Ihe male. 



Distrilmlion. — Southern Oueensland, New South Wales, X'ictotia, South Australia, Central 

 Australia, Western Australia. 



igf\N general appearance and habits the Letter-winged Kite closely resembles the preceding 

 jL species, but from which it may be distinguished during Hight by the inverted \'-shaped 

 black marking on the under surface of each wing lining. It is, however, chietly confined to the 

 southern half of the Australian continent, over which it ranges from the eastern to western sea- 

 board, but is more abundantly distributed inland than near the coast. Like that species, too, 

 it is nomadic in habits, appearing some seasons in districts where there is an abundant food 

 supply, and then being absent again, perliaps for many years. 



Specimens in the Australian Museum Collection were obtained in New South Wales by 

 tlie late Mr. K. II. Bennett in the Lachlan District, by Dr. E. P. Ramsay at Springfield, by 

 the late Mr. fames Coclserell at Lismore, Richmond Ri\-er, by Mr. Robert Grant on tlie 

 Bellinger River, and by the late Mr. Henry Newcombe at Randwick, near Sydney. From 

 Victoria there is an adult male procured by me at Moonee Ponds. It was hovering at dusk in 

 a paddock, and descending now and again to catch field mice, with which the stomach was 

 filled. 



Like the preceding species, rats, mice and large insects chielly constitute its food. 



The late Mr. K. H. IJennett, while resident at Mossgiel, New South Wales, in i8S6, wrote 

 as follows : — " Elamn scriptiis can only be considered an occasional visitant in this locality. In 

 1864, when this part of the country was first occupied, it was infested for some months by at 

 least two species of rats, and preying upon them were large numbers of the Letter-winged Kite. 

 Suddenly the rodents disappeared, and with them the Kites. Only one occasion since fin 1S70) 

 have these birds appeared in any numbers, and at that time the country was invaded with legions 

 of mice. Since then only a few pairs have visited the district, and remained only a short time, 

 the last I saw being in 1S82. I have never known an instance of their breeding here." 



Mr. G. A. Keartland writes me from Melbourne, Victoria : — " During the journey of the 

 Horn Scientific Lxpedition in Central Australia, in 181J4, the Letter- winged Kite (£/<7«»ssrr//'i';;.sJ 

 was met with in pairs near McMinn's Range, and were very numerous at times. They were 

 generally seen flying over the coarse grass and saltbush, searching for rats and mice, lizards 

 and grasshoppers, which abound in the sandhills. Their nests, which are built in the Gum-trees 

 in the gorges, or along the river banks, are built of sticks and lined with leaves. 



The eggs are three or four in number for a sitting, oval or rounded-oval in form, comparatively 

 smooth shelled, and the surface dull and lustreless. They are of a faint bluish-white ground 

 colour, which is sparingly spotted and blotched with different shades of brown and rich umber- 

 brown, intermingled with fainter underlying markings of brown and brownish-grey. In some 

 specimens the spots and blotches are confined chiefly to one end or one side of the shell. A set 

 of three taken by Mr. C. Ernest Cowle, at Illamurta, Central .\ustralia, on the (nh September, 

 1895, measure as follows: — Length (A) 1-78 x 1-42 inches; (B) 1-82 x 1-4 inches; (C) 1-9 x 

 i"42 inches. Although Elanus axillaris and E. scriptiis closely resemble each other, the eggs of 

 the latter species may easily be distinguished from the former by being more sparingly marked 

 and lacking the rich hues of the bold and heavily blotched eggs of the Black-shouldered Kite. 



In Central Australia, August and the three following months constitutes the usual breeding 

 season of this species. 



