HALIASTUH LEUCOSTERNUS. 



(WUte-hreasted Eagle.) 



Head, neck, chest, and upper part of the abdomen, white ; back, wings, lower part of the abdomen, thighs, upper surface of tail, and upper 

 and under tail coverts, rich chestnut red ; primaries, tipped with black ; tail feathers, tipped with greyish white ; bill, yellowish horn color, 

 frequently tinted with rose color on the culmen; both mandibles, tinged with dark grey at the base; irides, yellow; legs and feet light yellow. 



Length, 22 inches ; wing, 15 ; tail, 9 ; bill, 1| ; tarsus, 2. 



This truly beautiful raptorial may frequently be seen on the banks of the Brisbane Hiver, and also among the small islands of 

 Moreton Bay, and when seen in its full plumage on a bright sunny day it becomes peculiarly attractive, by the snowy whiteness of its head 

 and neck contrasting with the deep rich coloring of its wings and back ; it is also frequently met with in the bays and inlets of our north- 

 eastern coast, and is occasionally met so far south as the Hunter Eiver, but never farther inland than such parts as are under tidal influence ; 

 it is not uncommon in the neighborhood of Cape York and Port Essington. Its food consists chiefly of fish, and it exhibits considerable 

 activity in taking its finny prey by dexterously darting on and seizing it with its strongly armed foot while skijuming along near the surface 

 of the water. When not on the wing it is generally seen on some tree overhanging the water, and it is to some such place that it retires 

 after capturing its food, to devour it at leisure ; but, if disturbed, it experiences no difficulty in doing so while on the wing. It is very nearly 

 allied to two Asiatic species, differing only in a slight marking of the white feathers of the head and neck. Its time of breeding is about the 

 months of October and November, when it usually lays two eggs, marked with many irregular and angular fine streaks and a few small spots 

 of reddish brown, the egg being of a dusky white. The nest, like others of a similar order, is composed of sticks roughly placed together in 

 the fork of a tree, in some secluded spot near the water, and is lined with coarse grass or very fine twigs. 



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