27-t FALCONIN.*;. 



is an immature female obtained at Lithgow, in the lilue Mountains, New South Wales, which 

 has most of the feathers on tlie upper parts pale brown, with which are intermingled some slaty- 

 blue feathers of the adult stage ; the throat and sides of the neck white, the latter washed with 

 buff; remainder of the under surface pale creamy-buft, the feathers on the foreneck with a 

 narrow sagittate dark brown marking down the centre, and some of the feathers on the sides of 

 the breast mottled with rusty-rufous; thighs pale creamy-buff passing into almost pure white 

 on the lower feathers. The wing-measurement exceeds that of any other specimen in the 

 Australian Aluseum Collection, io-8 inches. An immature male from King George's Sound, 

 Western .Vustralia, has the rufous margins to the featiiers of the upper parts much darker, and 

 most of the feathers on the crown of the head are dull rufous with indistinct blackish shaft 

 streaks, and the feathers on the lower breast are entirely rusty-rufous with only slight indications 

 here and there of blackish shaft streaks. Wing <)-5 inches. 



To show the audacity of this species, Mr. W. Butcher, bird-dealer of Sydney, showed me a 

 rough skin of one he had caught in August, lyoy, in the nets, whither it had followed a number 

 of Orange-billed Grass P'inches (Pce.phUti hccki ), at a place seventy miles south of Pine Creek, 

 in the Northern Territory of South .Australia, and about three hundred miles inland from 

 Port Darwin. 



The following information has been extracted from notes received from I\Ir. H. G. Barnard, 

 of Bimbi, Duaringa, Queensland : — " In 1907 I took a set of three eggs of Faho luuulatus from a 

 nest eighty-li\e feet from the ground. This nest was built by a pair of Crows ( Coitus coiviioidii), 

 and when just completed a pair of White-fronted Falcons tackled the Crows, and after four days 

 succeeded in dri\'ing them off. It was close to the house, and I had a good chance of watching 

 them. After hunting the Crows away the Falcons remained about the nest, but it was not till 

 si.\ weeks after that they made use of it, and I succeeded in obtaining a nice clutch of three 

 eggs; the birds were very pugnacious while I was robbing the nest, and several times almost 

 knocl<ed my hat olf; the lining of the nest was composed entirely of soft bark and horsehair. 

 A set of eggs taken on the 3rd October, 1908, was also laid in a Crow's nest from which the 

 birds had been driven away, the lining of the nest being composed entirely of soft bark. The 

 outside measurement was thirteen inches by nine inches, and the depth of the egg cavity si.x inches 

 by seven inches across, the height from the ground being ninety feet. At thirty feet from the 

 ground a large horizontal limb protruded from the main stem ; on the underside of this limb, 

 and about ten feet ftoni the ruain stem, was a large (what we call paper-bark) hornet's nest; 

 these nests are built to a large size ; I have frequently seen thenr three feet long by tweKe inches 

 deep, and thick in proportion. As I neared the limb, cutting my steps, the hornets got very 

 savage, anil I thought I was in for a bad time; the hornets swarmed on the nest in thousands, 

 and several times llew at me, but when they did I remained perfectly still, and tht-y returned to 

 their nest : at last I had passed the limb, and got above them, when I could breathe freely again, 

 then up and up, till within a few feet of the Falcon's nest, when suddenly the bird dashed off 

 straight at me, and only for ducking my head I believe would have knocked my hat off". I w-as 

 rewarded for my climb with a set of three lovely fresh eggs. When these Falcons build their 

 own nests the lining is composed of leaves. 



" The food of this Falcon consists largely of small birds ; they also eat dragon-flies, which I 

 have seen them catch while on the wing. I have also seen them of an evening, after rain, 

 catching the large winged ants as they flew; the ants were caught in the birds claws, and 

 transferred to the mouth while the bird was on the wing." 



While resident at Mossgiel, New South Wales, the late Mr. K. II. Bennett wrote : — "Faho 

 luunlatus is frequently met with in this locality, although it is by no means plentiful. Its piey 

 consists chiefly of small birds, such as Quail, etc., to which is added some of the larger insects, 



