184 Macgillivray, Ornithologists in North Queensland. f^f ^"^11 



before the mosquito onslaught. On skinning this female several 

 fine parasitic worms were found under the nictitating membrane of 

 the eye. 



Another nest examined on the 15 th November was placed high 

 in a large fig-tree in the scrub. A colony of Calornis wex'e busy with 

 their nests in this tree, and the Hawk had not laid. 



We were not able to throw any further light upon the vexed question 

 as to whether the grey and the white bird are only phases of the one 

 species or two distinct species. So far, Mr. Barnard's evidence is 

 all that we have in favour of the one species, and even that is not 

 conclusive, as we know from other instances that nearly-related 

 species inhabiting the same district often interbreed in a state of 

 nature. To sit still and watch for the return of the second bird is 

 no easy task. Mr. M'Lennan's observations have shown that the 

 male rarely returns to the nest before dusk, and then one has to 

 watch from close below the tree, which is usually the tallest one in 

 the neighbourhood, stretching up above the roof of the jungle. This 

 means lying on the ground and keeping still for hours where ants of 

 all kinds and many other creeping things luxuriate, with an ever- 

 increasing horde of hungry mosquitoes in constant attendance — a 

 severe test for the most ardent field naturalist. 



We saw only one white bird during our visit to the Claudie. On 

 the Archer River ]\Ir. M'Lennan noted a few pairs. 



Astur approximans (JJrospiza fasciata fasciata). — On the 8th 

 November we flushed an Australian Goshawk from a nest placed 

 high in a eucalypt in open forest. Later on Mr. M'Lennan climbed 

 to another nest of this species ; it contained two young birds and the 

 half-eaten remains of a Superb Fruit-Pigeon. On the Archer River 

 these birds were fairly common. 



Accipiter torquatus (Accipifer cirrhocephalus cirrhocephalus^:. 

 Collared Sparrow-Hawk. — Noted on the Archer and Pascoe Rivers. 

 From the Claudie River he made this note on 31st October, 191 3 : — 

 " Saw a small Hawk fluttering on the ground ; thought that its wing 

 was broken, but soon saw that it was in the clutches of a small 

 monitor lizard. I caught and killed them both. The lizard had a 

 mouth hold at the base of the three outer tail feathers, its front feet 

 gripping the skin and feathers on each side of the base of the tail, 

 the hind feet gripping each wing near the body, and tail coiled once 

 round the neck of the Hawk, which was just about exhausted." 



Uroae'tus audax (U. audax audax). Wedge-tailed Eagle. — Noted 

 on the Archer River. 



Haliseetus leucogaster {Cuncuma leucogaster). White-bellied Sea- 

 Eagle. — When at Haggerstone Island we saw one of these birds 

 soaring above it. A feeding-place on a large stranded log had many 

 fish remains on and about it, and also portion of a Torres Strait 

 Pigeon. When out with a blackfellow on a rainy day on the Claudie 

 I saw one of these birds sheltering from the rain in a low tree in open 

 country. 

 - Mr. M'Lennan noted this species at the mouth of the Archer River. 



Haliastur leucosternus {Haliastur indiis leucostenms). — We occasion- 

 ally noted the White-headed Sea-Eagle on the Claudie and at the mouth 

 of the Archer River. An untenanted nest was high in a tree which 

 was being rapidly covered with Calornis nests. 



