Voi.^xVli.j Legge, a Nciv Raptor for Tasmania. I05 



can deny that among the child-races of the world he stands pre- 

 eminent for his marvellous powers of vision and observation in his 

 native wilds. He is a human companion of the fauna among 

 which he lives. Gould's valued collector and assistant, Gilbert, 

 was the first, as we note in the great author's " Handbook," to 

 give information on the subject on the testimony of the blacks, 

 as related by a pastoralist, Mr. Drummond, together with his son. 

 In essence, the natives' story is that the Buzzard, having discovered 

 an Emu on its nest, advances on the ground to the attack, with 

 a stone in its talons, with outstretched wings, and assaults the 

 Emu with great ferocity. Having driven the Emu off the eggs, 

 the Buzzard hovers over the nest and drops the stone on the eggs. 

 It then devours their contents, and, in addition, probably carries 

 some to its nest. If no stone is procurable the bird picks up a 

 lump of hard, calcined earth and uses it ! A. J. Campbell, in his 

 comprehensive work, " Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds," 

 alludes to this evidence, and adds to it considerably by giving an 

 extract from an article by Mr. H. K. Bennett in the Proceedings 

 of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. This substantiates 

 the evidence of the blacks. Mention is made here of a friend of 

 his who found an Emu's nest with five broken eggs and a lump 

 of calcined earth " as big as a man's fist " lying by them. 

 Further proof is given by A. J. Campbell, who found a nest with 

 the shell of a Bustard's egg in it. Finally, in Messrs. Campbell 

 and Barnard's paper on "The Birds of North Queensland," we 

 have the latter's testimony that he has proof of this robber 

 " dropping stones on eggs in the Northern Territory." There 

 they also noticed its great soarings, and were struck by " its 

 peculiar floating flight while hawking over the tree-tops." Lastly, 

 in its nesting habits it competes with the Eagles in building its 

 eyrie, which is nearly as large as that of the Eagles. It no doubt 

 has the- habit of adding to the structure from season to season, as 

 the Sea-Eagle {Haliastur) does, which, by the wa}^ is not the 

 custom of our Wedge-tailed Eagle, so far as I have ascertained. 



Kaup, the well-known Continental ornithologist, removed this 

 species from the genus Buteo-r-^he true Buzzards — and created 

 for its reception the new genus, Gypoictinia, on account, of its 

 very differently scaled tarsus, the anterior portion of which is 

 protected by broad, diamond-shaped scales, which are supple- 

 mented on the sides and posterior part by small reticulated ones. 

 This amply justifies its separation from Buteo, in which the 

 anterior tarsal scales are rectangular and transverse. 



Finally, we may note that, to the systematic ornithologist, there 

 remains the interesting fact that the one and only Australian 

 member of this noteworthy group of birds of prey stands almost 

 at the head of the group in size. It is only exceeded in dimensions 

 by one or two species of the true Buzzards, notwithstanding that 

 they range over the new world and the old, Malaysia and Oceania 

 excepted, the big South American Buzzard {Biitco melanosterna) 

 of the western republics of that continent being the only species 

 that passes our bird materially in size and length of wing. 



