8 FALCONIDai. 



in the centre, the texture of the shell is rough and slightly- 

 granular. Length (A) 2-98 x 2-16 inches, taken 9th August, 

 1875; (B) 2'72 x 2-06 inches, taken in August, 1870. 



The breeding season commences in July in New South Wales, 

 and I have seen young birds in the nest in Victoria, during the 

 month of November. 



Hctb. Port Darwin and Port Essington, Gulf of Ca,rpentaria, 

 Cape York, Rockingham Bay, Port Denison, Wide Bay District, 

 Dawson River, Richmond and Clarence Rivers Districts, New 

 South Wales, Interior, Victoria and South Australia, Tasmania, 

 W. and S.W. Australia, South Coast New Guinea. (Bamsay.) 



^ 



Genus HALIASTUE, Selhy. 



HALIASTUR INDUS, Bodd. 



Suh-Species H. gireeneea, Vieillot. 



{H. leucosternus, Gould.) 



White-breasted or Red-baoked Pish Eagle. 



Gould, Handhk. Bds. Aust, Vol. i., sp. 4, p. 17. 



Upon the authority of Mr. Rainbird, Dr. Ramsay gives the 

 following account of the nidification of this interesting species : — ■ 



"The nest of the Red-backed Fish Eagle is by no means 

 so bulky a structure as that of many of its allies, nor is it 

 so large as one would expect from a member of the family to 

 which it belongs. In almost every instance the examples found 

 by Mr. Rainbird were placed near the tops of the larger trees in 

 belts of mangroves skirting the edges of salt-water swamps and 

 marshes in the neighbourhood of Port Denison. They were 

 composed of twigs and dead branches of mangrove, lined with a 

 finer material. One, from which that gentleman shot the bird, 

 and brought me the egg upon which she was sitting, was' lined 

 with tufts of lichen ; and in this instance the egg was placed on 



