Vol.XVII 



1917 



1 Mathews. The Nestings of Australian Finches. I^S 



the Java Sparrow, the real Munia ? Has Aidemosyne a spotted 

 mouth, or is it like Mttnia ? Then Tceniopygia, from external 

 characters alone, is regarded as possibly peculiar, and thus merits 

 consideration. My own conclusion, from Chapin's account, is 

 that all the Australian birds will be found to resemble more or 

 less Poephila, though it is possible that unexpected results will be 

 seen, especially as it is suggested that these Weaver-Finches have 

 arrived in Australia at different periods. It is certain that they 

 are immigrants from the north, and, moreover, comparatively 

 recent.- Thus, they are practically absent from south-west 

 Australia and Tasmania, only one species occurring in each of 

 these localities, and tliese are representative species, belonging to 

 the same genus, Zomeginthiis. This at once suggests that this was 

 the earliest immigrant into Australia, and that later arrivals have 

 exterminated it in the northern districts. Stagonopleura and 

 Tcsniopygia occur in Victoria and South Australia, and these 

 may have come with Zonceginthus, but in less numbers, and, not 

 being such wanderers, have failed to penetrate into Tasmania or 

 get round to Western Australia. It is possible that some of the 

 northern species came at the same time, but did not push south, 

 but it is certain that the northern forms are extending'their 

 range, as the case of Erythiira emphasizes this. However, the 

 Australian species are all well differentiated, so that every item 

 that can be of use is necessary. Consequently, I hope this note 

 will bring forth descriptions of nestlings' mouths, and if this be 

 undertaken it is feasible to anticipate other items being recognized 

 that mav be of even more value. 



A New Raptor (Gypoictinia melanosterna) for 

 Tasmania. 



By Col. W. V. Legge, C.M.B.O.U., Tasmania. 

 On or about the 23rd November, 1916, while in my poultry yard 

 in the early morning, my attention was arrested by an unfamiliar 

 cry of a bird of prey, accompanied by the well-known notes of 

 the Brown Hawk and the Harrier. The birds were high in the 

 air, directly above me. Soaring in wide and perfectly uniform 

 circles was a large, Eagle-like bird, with long, narrow wings and 

 even tail, seemingly quite indifierent to the swoops of the two 

 Brown Hawks and the Harrier. The wings and tail showed at 

 once that he was not a W^edge-tailed Eagle, and a momentary 

 glance revealed to me the two conspicuous white under-wing 

 patches identifying the stranger as the splendid Black-breasted 

 Buzzard {Gvpoiciinia melanosterna), beautifully depicted in Gould's 

 fine plate. As Campbell remarks in his " Nests and Eggs," these 

 white patches, v^xy noticeable from beneath, when the bird is 

 soaring above the spectator, are an easy clue to its identity. It 

 was a fascinating sight to gaze at its majestic circlings, with 

 perfectly immovable wing, all the while indifferent to the attacks 



