12 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA. 



by J. H. Giirney, Esq., in the Museum at Norwich. At 

 present no example is to be found in the National Collection. 

 Captain Sturt obtained it at the Depot in South Australia ; 

 and Mr, White, of the Reed Beds, near Adelaide, has sent 

 me a drawing of another obtained by him in the same country. 



The Little Australian Eagle, which is about the size of the 

 Common and Rough-legged Buzzards {Buteo vulgaris and 

 Archibuteo la (/opus), forms a beautiful representative of the 

 Hieraetiis pennatus of Europe, its specific distinctions from 

 which are its larger size, the total absence of the white mark 

 on the shoulder, and the cere and feet being of a lead-colour 

 instead of yellowish-olive. 



The specimen obtained by myself was shot at Yarrundi on 

 the river Hunter. I was led to the discovery of the bird by 

 finding its nest, containing a single egg, upon which it had 

 been sitting for some time. I regret to add that, although I 

 several times visited the place after killing the bird, all my 

 attempts at procuring the other sex were entii-ely unsuccessful. 

 The nest was of a large size, and was placed close to the bole, 

 about one-fourth of the height from the top, of one of the 

 highest gum-trees ; the egg was bluish white with very faint 

 traces of brown blotchings, two inches and two lines long by 

 one inch and nine lines broad. 



Face, crown of the head, and throat blackish brown, tinged 

 with rufous, giving it a striated appearance, and bounded in 

 front above the nostrils with whitish ; feathers at the back of 

 the head, which are lengthened into a short occipital crest, 

 back of the head, back, and sides of the neck, all the under 

 surface, thighs, and under tail-coverts rufous, all but the thighs 

 and under tail-coverts with a stripe of black down the centre 

 of each feather ; back, rump, and wings brown, the centre of 

 the wing lighter ; primaries brownish black, becoming darker 

 at the tip, and barred throughout with greyish buff, which is 

 conspicuous on the under surface, but scarcely perceptible on 

 the upper, except at the base of the inner webs ; under surface 



