ol. X. -| 

 1910 J 



Note on Hawks. ^47 



Note on Hawks. 



Grey v. White Goshawks. — Mr. H. L. White has received the 

 following interesting communication from Mr. H. G. Barnard, 

 from Cape York : — " What I am about to state is perfectly 

 authentic, and I have witnesses to prove it. This is in regard 

 to the Hawks. In my first letter from here I stated that I hoped 

 to prove that the three Hawks — namely, Astur cineretis, A. novcB- 

 hollandicB, and A. leucosomus — were the same bird. At the first 

 four nests taken the birds of two of the nests were both grey, as in 

 A. cinereus ; at the other two the birds were pure ivhiie ; then Mr. 

 Bert Jardine informed me of a nest where one bird was pure white 

 and the other grey. As he was leaving for New Guinea, he offered 

 to show mc the nest, which was 8 miles from here, towards 

 Somerset. I went with him, and we flushed a grey bird from the 

 nest. As it was too late for further investigations that night, 

 I proceeded with him to Somerset, returning the following day. 

 Next morning, getting a daybreak start (I had a tramp of 16 miles, 

 besides shooting the birds and having a large tree to climbs, I 

 reached my destination about 9 o'clock, and flushed a pure white 

 bird from the nest. This bird, which was very shy, proved to be 

 the male. After waiting about two hours, the bird returned to 

 the edge of the nest, where I shot it. As it lay on the nest, I was 

 afraid the dead bird would frighten its mate on its return, so I 

 started to climb to the nest. To the first fork was about 50 feet. 

 I was about half-way up when the female, a gyey bird, flew into 

 the nest and sat beside the dead one. Quickly I made my way 

 down the tree for my gun ; and as the bird hopped off the nest 

 on to a limb I secured it, for complete identification. I then 

 finished the climb, and got the other bird and a set of three eggs. 

 One of the eggs was pierced in the end by a shot ; but this will 

 only make the set more interesting, as it in no wise spoilt the egg. 

 On my way home I found another nest, from which the female 

 flew, and she was pure white. I waited about half an hour before 

 climbing, as I wanted to see the male, and when he came he was 

 grey — so in one day I got a nest with a white male and grey 

 female and vice versa. I obtained another female from a nest 

 at which both birds were grey, and it is identical with the grey 

 bird shot with the white male. The grey birds are undoubtedly 

 the ones classed as A. cinereus, while the white are exactly like 

 A. nova-hoUandics. The birds are larger than A. approximans, 

 and the eggs considerably larger. As I have the skins — I regretted 

 having to shoot these tine birds — to prove the relationship, but 

 it may be some time before they come into your possession, I ask 

 you, in justice to Mr. Jardine, who first brought the matter under 

 my notice, and to Bert, who found and showed me the nest from 

 which I secured the birds, to kindly place the foregoing facts before 

 some ornithological society." 



