no CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



advantage of by the shining calornis, a white-headed, 

 rufous-backed sea-eagle nests, and the graceful, fierce-look- 

 ing pair come and go among the glittering noisy throng 

 without exciting any special comment. Of course it 

 would be impossible to detect any certain note of remon- 

 strance, for the smaller birds are generally commenting on 

 something or other in acidulous tones. 



Another occupant of this nestful tree is the sulphur- 

 crested cockatoo, whose eggs are laid deep down in a 

 hollow. Two or three hundred of the shining colonists, a 

 brood of sea-eagles, white-headed, snowy-breasted and 

 red-backed, and a couple, perhaps, three, screeching white 

 cockatoos, represent the annual output of this single tree, 

 in addition, of course, to its own crop of sweet savoured 

 flowers (on which birdSj_bees, beetles and butterflies, and 

 flying-foxes feast) and seeds in thousands in cunning cups. 



"Stately Face and Magnanimous Minde" 



How feeble and ludicrous are the voices of the fierce 

 hawks and eagles. The white-headed sea-eagle's puking 

 discordant twang, the feeble cheep of the grey falcon — 

 the cry of a sick and scared chicken — the harsh protest of 

 the osprey, are sounds distinctive but frail, conveying no 

 notion whatever of the demeanour and characteristics of 

 the birds. 



Now the white-headed sea-eagle, with its sharp incurved 

 beak, terrible talons, and armour-plated legs, is a friend to 

 all the little birds. He has the " stately face and magnani- 

 mous minde" that old writers were wont to ascribe to the 

 Basilisk, the King of Serpents. They know and respect, 

 almost venerate him. A horde of them never seeks to 

 scare him away with angry scolding and feeble assaults, 

 as it does the cruel falcon and the daring goshawk. 

 Domestic fowls learn of his ways, and are wise in their 

 fearlessness of him. But I was not well assured of the 

 reasons for the trustfulness and admiration of the smaller 



