HABITS AND NEST OF THE CEEAM-BELLIED FALCON. 



79 



also eat carrion, and kills mice, small birds, lizards, and other creatures. The land- 

 holding colonists think it to be a great pest, because it sometimes picks up a young 

 chicken or two ; but in the opinion of Mr. Gould it is in reality one of the farmer's 

 best friends, on account of its services in destroying the insect hosts with which Australia 

 is overrun. Although it is not a gregarious bird, living only in pairs, it may be seen 

 assembled in flocks of a hundred or more, congregated over the localities where the 

 destructive caterpillars most abound... So plentiful is this bird, and so sluggish is its 

 character, that they may be seen 

 seated in the tall eucalypti, thirty 



or forty occupying a single tree, _ 



and all so ill-disposed to move 

 that any number of them may 

 be killed without difficulty. 



The structure of this bird ap- 

 proaches in many respects to that 

 of the kestrel, and its character 

 is not at all dissimilar. It does 

 not seem to be a bold or dashing 

 bird, and in pursuing its prey 

 either sweeps suddenly upon it 

 from the lofty regions where it 

 is soaring, or snaps up a bird, 

 reptile, or an insect, as it courses 

 over the ground after the manner 

 of the harrier. 



The nest of the Cream-bellied 

 Falcon is placed upon the loftiest 

 branches of the eucalypti, or gum- 

 trees as they are popularly called, 

 and to a spectator on the ground 

 bears a strong resemblance to that 

 of the common crow, being built 

 in a similar manner with sticks 

 and twigs. The lining of the nest 

 is made of leaves, stringy bark and 

 similar substances, and the esQS 

 are from two to three in number. 

 Tlieir colour is a yellowish-white, 

 covered irregularly over their 

 whole surface with reddish-brown 

 spots and blotches, very irregularly 

 sown, and very variable in their 

 depth, number, and arrangement. 

 The breeding season is from the 

 end of September to the beginning 

 of December. 



In its colour the bird varies 

 greatly, according to its age, the 

 creamy white of the under por- 

 tions being of a deeper yellow, and the brown portions of the plumage more inclining 

 to black in the young than in the adult bird. The general colour of the adult 

 bird is rusty-brown above and creamy-white below, the darker feathers being marked 

 with a fine black line down their centre. The tail is barred with reddish-chesnut, and 

 there is a very conspicuous black stripe on the sides of the throat, which commences at 

 the corner of the mouth and passes dow^n each cheek. The feet and bill are lead colour, 

 the tip of the beak passing into black. The eyes are very dark brown. 



CliEAM-BELLIED FALCON.— :croc-u?cn Ber^gorou. 



