FALCO. 2G7 



igog, and had captured at various times about a dozen of his domestic pigeons, but he refrained 

 from shooting it, as he thought there might be a possibihty of another bird taking up itscjuarters 

 there and the pair breeding. A very interesting immature male was received in the llesh by 

 the Trustees of the Australian ]\Iuseuni from Mr. G. li. Driftieid, of Condoblin, New South 

 Wales. It was shot the previous day, in the presence of the donor, by Mr. A. P. Cox, of the 

 Australian Joint Stock I Sank, .-\round the middle toe of the left foot, and near the claw, was 

 tightly closed the bill ami dried skull of a IJarnard's Parrakeet ( BarnanUus haiiiardi }. Apparently 

 the latter, when caught, had fastened on to the toe of its captor, which it securely clenched in 

 its death struggles; evidently it had been carried about by the Falcon for a long time, for the 

 skull was bare and the skin, with only a few feathers remaining, was dry and shrivelled. 



From Orange, New South Wales, Mr. E. II. Lane writes me: — " Falco hvpolciicui made its 

 appearance on Wambangalang Run in iSSi, no doubt driven in by the great drought of that 

 time, and being, so far as I have heard, its first and only visit to the Dubbo District. The 

 nest was built in September, and contained two fresh eggs, one of which the young fellow who 

 climbed the very lofty tree, broke in coming down, so I have only the odd egg, which I prize." 



From Broken Hill, in South-western New South Wales, Dr. W. INIacgillivray writes: — 

 " Some few years ago a bird-catcher brought me a pair of young Grey Falcons {Ftxlco liypuleucus). 

 They soon became very quiet and tractable, and remained so, their disposition contrasting with 

 that of three Black-cheeked Falcons which I had in an adjoining cage. These latter birds 

 never made friends with me, and I let them go. The Grey Falcon is sparingly dispersed 

 throughout the district, several pairs coming under our observation during our out-back trip in 

 September, igog. The first pair we found nesting on Gardiner's Creek, about fifty miles north 

 from BroK-en Hill, on the 13th September. As we were going up the creek the female first 

 flushed from her nest in a tall tree, then the male from a smaller nest lower down, where he had 

 evidently been sheltering from the wind. The real nest, a large loosely built structure, after 

 the style of a Raven's, was placed on a small limb at the very top of the tree, sixty feet from the 

 ground. On account of the size of the limb it was diificult of access, but Mr. W. McLennan, by 

 careful climbing, managed to take a clutch of three fresh eggs from the nest, which was lined 

 with wool. On the 15th September we found another nest of this species on Sturt's Meadow's 

 Creek, just below the homestead, placed as before on a thin limb at the very top of a Gum- 

 tree ; as it was evening when we found it, and our camp was only a few hundred yards away, 

 we left it till morning after watching the female settle herself on the nest for the night. In a 

 hollow of the same tree a Cockatoo {'Gtui/;/!? S(i;;.!,';/n(i(7J had its eggs. Whilst Mr. McLennan 

 was climbing to the nest early next morning, the two birds sailed uneasily round and round above 

 the tree, but made no attempt to defend their home. The nest was at a height of eighty feet 

 from the ground by nieasurement. It was as large as a Little Eagle's nest, loosely built of 

 sticks, and lined with wool. Four slightly incubated eggs were in it. The birds uttered no 

 kind of cry at any time. On the same day that we found this nest, off a small creek near the 

 White Cliffs-road we saw another pair of these birds, which had evidently taken possession of 

 an old Wedge-tailed Eagle's nest, in a Leopard-tree, a nesting cavity having been shaped in 

 the old nest, but no eggs laid. Budgerigars were flying at frequent intervals down these 

 creeks, dropping off to breed here and there. Black-breasted and Rufous Song Larks were 

 breeding freely, the former on the plains and the latter in the undergrowth and lank herbage 

 along the creeks ; young Barnard Parrakeets were hatching out, soon to be followed by numerous 

 broods of Galahs and Blood-stained Cockatoos, so that the young of the Falcons would not lack 

 food. Another pair were seen on the 24th September, in a Box flat at Langawirra, but had not 

 yet nested. On our return journey, when exploring Yalcowinna Creek on the loth October, 

 Mr. McLennan and I saw a female Grey Falcon attack, in most vigorous fashion, a Raven which 

 was very glad to escape out on to the plains. We soon found the Falcon's nest, built high up 



