Vol. VIII, 



1909 



] Whitlock, Birds on the Pilbarra Goldfteld. xyy 



The second nest was in a more lofty situation, being quite 60 feet above 

 the water of the main Coongan. The nest, as usual, was on a horizontal 

 limb, and very difficult to reach. It was nearly twice as bulky as the 

 previous nest, being the accumulation of several years. I employed a native 

 to obtain the eggs for me. The nest contained two, much incubated. 

 Unfortunately, he broke one in descending the tree. These eggs were both 

 marked with pale rust-coloured blotches. The broken egg had the markings 

 all massed at the smaller end. In ground colour these eggs were of a dirty 

 white. 



The third nest, found a week later near the junction of the Taiga River 

 with the Coongan— the latter river here being over half a mile in width — 

 was at a height of not more than 30 feet. This was more due to the fact of 

 the eucalypts on the Taiga being small than of any variation in the habits of 

 the parent birds. This nest contained a fine young Eaglet, which would have 

 left the nest in- a week or ten days. 



The fourth nest was on the banks of the de Grey River, a few miles from 

 where its tributary, the Coongan, effects a junction. It was in a fairly large 

 eucalypt, and, as I was informed by the natives who found it, in a very 

 inaccessible position, owing to its being placed near to the extremity of a 

 horizontal branch. I had gone down the river, as I was under the impression 

 the nest was in that direction. Instead of coming to me and telling me of 

 the difficulty, the climber foolishly chopped off the whole limb, in the hope 

 that when the eggs fell out his mate below would be able to catch one or the 

 other. I need hardly add the experiment failed. Both eggs were irretriev- 

 ably ruined. 



The young Eaglet before referred to differed somewhat from its parents in 

 plumage, being very rufous on the head, neck, and breast, with narrow shaft 

 lines. Cere greenish-yellow. Tarsus feathered, and the claws very long 

 and powerful. Pattern of the wings ^milar to that of the adult, but the 

 plumage generally dead black, with faint greyish margins. The long feathers 

 of the occiput were well developed and with black tips. Feathers of the 

 head of a deeper brown than that of under parts. 



Native name of the Little Eagle, Wee-dun-ba. 



White-headed Sea-Eagle {Haliastur girreiiera). — This beautiful 

 Sea-Eagle does not appear to travel far from the coast, and my acquaintance 

 with it is by no means extensive. The first pair I ever saw in Australia 

 I observed at Point Sampson, near Roebourne. They were flying about 

 the creeks in that locality. I had reason to think that it might breed 

 in the extensive mangroves bordering the network of creeks and back- 

 waters at Port Hedland. So when I arrived at Condon, where conditions 

 were similar, if on a smaller scale, I naturally looked for it there. I was not 

 disappointed. My first walk at Condon was a trip up the coast to a rocky 

 point and a neighbouring islet, accessible at certain stages of the tides. On 

 my way I caught the gleam of a white head and neck amongst the 

 mangroves. A closer approach revealed the whole bird, with its richly 

 contrasting cinnamon-coloured upper parts. Close at hand was its mate. 

 Both birds were perched on the outer fringe of mangroves. The tide was 

 rapidly coming in, and though I waded in up to the knees I found it useless 

 at the moment to proceed further. However, though I subsequently made 

 a thorough examination of this tract of mangroves, I eventually found the 

 nest on the other side of the estuary and nearly a mile away. The actual 

 site was quite close to the port, and in a clump of flourishing and quite 

 massive mangroves, a little distance back from the open ocean. At low 

 tide the nest would be about 20 feet from the sand, and at high spring tides 

 the bottom of the nest cannot have been much above high water mark. 

 The structure was evidently the accumulation of several years. It was 

 quite 2 feet in height and about the same in width. There was just the 

 semblance of a cup. The nest contained a young Eaglet about ten days 



