8 BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 



BROWN HAWK 

 (Hieracidea orientalis, Schlegel). 



Male. Upper surface, including head, wings, and tail, uniform 

 dark brown; the feathers on the lower back, wing coverts, and 

 tail barred with reddish-brown ; chin and throat creamy-white 

 to white, varying with age ; rest of under surface creamy-white. In 

 some specimens the feathers on the chest and sides are only 

 streaked with black, in others black predominates on the whole 

 of the under surface; thighs brownish-black ; under tail coverts 

 silvery-grey. Dimensions in mm.: Length, 457; bill, 26; wing, 

 340; tail, 200; tarsus, 62. 



Female. Similar in plumage. 



Young. Male. Upper surface lighter than adult; under sur- 

 face white, faintly creamed ; feathers on chest and abdomen 

 streaked with brown; sides of body and thighs brown. Dimensions 

 in mm. : Length, 425; bill, 25; wing, 323; tail, 125; tarsus, 62. 



Nest. Usually situated in the branches of a tall eucalypt, and 

 composed of sticks and twigs, with a lining of leaves and pieces of 

 bark. 



Eggs. Clutch two to three usually; round oval in shape; tex- 

 ture of shell fairly fine and without lustre. Eggs vary much in 

 markings, even those of the same clutch. As a general thing it 

 may be said that the ground colour is buffy-white and the surface 

 much spotted and blotched with reddish to purplish brown; 

 in some eggs the larger end, in others the smaller, is almost 

 entirely covered by the markings; in others, again, the whole egg 

 is smothered. Dimensions in mm. of a pair: (1) 51.5 x 41, (2) 

 51 x 39. 



A richly-coloured set in Mr. Hubert Thompson's collection is 

 worthy of remark. The upper quarter of (1) is pinkish-white, 

 heavily covered with minute freckles of reddish-brown, with a 

 few large blotches of the same colour about the centre ; the rest 

 of the surface is a uniform deep reddish-brown. The upper quar- 

 ter of (2) is as in (1), but there are a number of various-sized spots 

 scattered about it; the rest of the surface is very heavily blotched 

 with deep reddish-brown and blackish-brown, w r ith the pinkish-red 

 ground colour showing out here and there. The remaining egg (3) 

 is practically a uniform reddish-brown, but the pigment is not as 

 heavily laid on as on the lower quarter of (1) the extreme upper 

 and lower quarters are slightly paler than the rest of the surface. 

 Dimensions in mm. of this clutch : (1) 50 x 40, (2) 51.5 x 41, (3) 

 49 x 40. 



Breeding Season. August to November. 



Geographical Distribution. Tasmania, King Island, and prac- 

 tically the whole of the mainland. 



Observations. Of all the Hawks found in Tasmania this species 

 appears to be the most plentiful. Its food, judging from the con- 



