282 



FALCoNINjE. 



iMt. RuLieit f^tant lias handed iiif the following; notes: — "I found the LJrown Hawk 

 ( Hici'diidui oi-it-ntaln) scattered all over the tiats and clearing's in the Lithgow District, on the 

 Blue Mountains, New South Wales, and it seems to be \ery partial to the dead timber in 

 ring-barked paddocks. At Bowenfels many years ago there was a great bush fire, and it attracted 

 a large number of Brcjwn Hawks and Kestrels, many oi which 1 shot. On dissecting them, in 

 every instance in both species 1 found their stomachs crammed with small half-burned lizards, 

 also grasshoppers and other insects. Often when 1 have been Opossum shooting on moonlight 

 nights, I have ' mooned ' Brown Hawks on the branches of dead trees, and have frequently 

 struck the tree trunks and thrown sticks at them before they would lly, and when they did they 

 would not fly far away." 



Writing from the JNIossgiel District, New South Waleb, the late Mr. K. H. liennett 

 remarked: — " With the exception of the Kestrel (Tliiiiiiiuiiliis iCiiiJu'oidcs) the Brown Hawk 

 (Huvacidca uruntalis) is the commonest of the Accii'rrki;s inhabiting this part of New South 

 Wales, being met with plentifully both in the timbered and the open country. Although 

 possessed of considerable powers of flight, it seldom seems to employ those powers in the capture 

 of its prey, for it usually takes its station on some exposed point, a branch or tree or rail of a 

 fence, and patiently watches for hours the advent of some reptile or young bird, upon which it 

 immediately pounces and carries oft to its perch to devour. It may at times l)e observed 

 hovering in circles at a considerable height, but it is then only on the watch for some unwary 

 reptile or young bird, such as Quail or ' Larks ' (Aiithns anstrahs and Ciuiioi'iiiiipliiis ivnraln.) 

 I have observed lliciuuidcci oiicntali^ only on two occasions attempt to capture prey on the wing, 

 one was the chase of a < juail, which it soon gave up as hopeless, the other was the capture of a 

 Fodargus itrigvida, which I had just disturbed. As a rule its food consists chiefly of small 

 reptiles, to which is added large insects, and such birds as it can capture by suddenly pouncing 

 on them. The nest, which is built in any convenient situation, sometimes not more than eight 

 or ten feet from the ground, is a rather deep cup-shaped structure composed of small sticks 

 closely interwoven, and lined with decayed fine bark-fibre, wool, iSrc. Three or four eggs are 

 laid for a sitting, usually the former, and when the young are first hatched they are covered 

 with ferruginous-coloured down, which gradually assumes a leaden tint as the bird grows older. 

 It breeds in August and September, and the young leave the nest about the end of October or 

 beginning of November." 



From lirok'en Hill, in South-western New South Wales, Dr. W. lMacgilli\ ray writes: — 

 '' I liiracidca oi'ttiiliilis is common here, and its nests are usually found out from the creeks on 

 solitary trees and in small tree clumps ; it breeds mostly in August and September. On hot days 

 in November, lyoi, these birds were exceedingly numerous in the Gums along the creeks, food 

 was plentiful in the shape of grasshoppers, and they evidently found the shade of the Gums 

 very pleasant after a hearty meal. In a mile of creek there were as many as si.x to ten 

 in every tree, the trees averaging about thirty yards apart. In Novemlier, 1909, when 

 driving to the South Australian border, these birds were numerous in the paddocks which 

 skirted the road, gathered together by the plentiful supply of grasshoppers. It was instructive 

 to watch them running down the insects on foot, every short run, often with wings half e.xtended, 

 ending in a capture, the beak being used; sometimes short flights along the ground were made, 

 when a more active prey endeavoured to escape. Nesting commences early in August, continuing 

 until October, the majority being hatched out before the end of September. It breeds earlier 

 than any of the Hawks other than the Wedge-tailed Eagle. Nests are usually found in the 

 Gums along all the creeks, generally high up, a compact stick-built structure lined with rabbit 

 fur or wool, or a mixture of both." 



Mr. G. A. Keartland writes me as follows from Melbourne, \'ictoria: — "The Brown Hawk 

 ( Hieracidca orientnlis) is scattered over the whole of Australia; I have seen it from Gippsland in 



