HALIASTTJE. 9 



various fish-bones, shells and claws of crabs, &c. ; the edges and 

 sides were beautifully ornamented with long streamers of bleached 

 seaweed, which gave the nest a novel and pleasing appearance. 

 The egg has a rough ground of a bluish-white color, with a few 

 minute spots of brownish-red near the larger end ; it is of an oval 

 form 2 inches by 1 inch 6 lines in breadth. Mr. Rainbird states 

 that this species of Hawk is far from rare about Port Denison. 

 Throughout the whole year many may be seen hovering over the 

 water near the mouth of the creeks, and over the salt-marshes 

 which are invariably edged with dense belts of high mangroves." 

 {Ramsay, Ibis, 1865, Vol. i., New Series, p. 83.) 



Hab. Derby, N.W.A., Port Darwin and Port Essington, Gulf 

 of Carpentaria, Cape York, Rockingham Bay, Port Denison, 

 Wide Bay District, Richmond and Clarence River Districts, New 

 South Wales, and South Coast New Guinea. {Ramsay.) 



2 HALIA8TUR SPHENURUS, Vieillot. 



■Whistling Eagle. 



Gould, Handbh. Bds. Aust., Vol. i., sp. 5, p. 20. J^ ^' 5. 



With the exception of the extreme southern portions of the 

 continent, this bird is distributed over the whole of Australia, 

 and is found both on the open plains and in the timbered country. 

 The nest is a large open structure composed of sticks and twigs, 

 lined with a few Eucalyptus leaves, and is generally placed 

 on the horizontal branch of a tree at a great height from the 

 ground. Eggs two in number for a sitting, varying in form from 

 true- to rounded-ovals, of a faint bluish-white, some specimens 

 being heavily blotched with irregular shaped markings of reddish- 

 chestnut, similar to those of Lophoictinia iswra, others being but 

 slightly marked with dull yellowish-brown, and in some instances 

 almost devoid of markings of any kind, with the exception of a 

 few fine scratches and smears hardly discernible on the smaller 

 end of the egg. 



