44 TH E WOMBAT. 



The Wedge-tailed Eagle, the finest example of this order 

 of birds in Australia, was found breeding near Kerang early 

 in spring, and was frequently seen in other parts of the district. 



Another eagle, though not generally known as such, 

 which came under my notice first at Newbridge on the Loddon, 

 was the Whistling Eagle, my attention being first attracted 

 to it by hearing its characteristic cry which, when once heard, 

 can never be forgotten. These birds will often, on a clear 

 warm day, soar higher and higher till completely lost to sight ; 

 they do this, I think, more frequently than any other 

 Australian eagle. 



Whilst riding along the Murray frontage at Murrabit one 

 day in November a passing shadow caused me to look up- 

 wards, when I was surprised and delighted to see a large hawk 

 passing over, which, from its black breast and conspicuous 

 white band across the base of the primary feathers, I at once 

 recognised as the Black breasted Buzzard, a bird usually 

 found further north in New South Wales, and rarely seen in 

 Victoria. This bird is, by many, reputed to indulge a taste 

 for emu eggs, by first frightening the mother bird off her nest, 

 and then carrying a stone overhead and dropping it on the 

 eggs and so breaking them, and then descending to feast upon 

 the contents. His habit has however never been directly 

 observed by any credible authority. 



Another very beautiful hawk noted near the same locality 

 on the Murray was the Black-shouldered Kite, a bird of a 

 general light grey colour with a black mark over the carpal joint. 



The common Harrier (Circus goitldi) was frequently seen 

 sailing over swamps or cornfields in various places. 



The only owl noted was the very well known Boobook ; 

 however, the museum of the Bendigo School of Mines contains 

 a number of other species said to have been obtained in the 

 district. 



In the first half of these notes I dealt with the Pigeons 

 and Gallinaceous birds as tfiey Were numerically few in number 

 in the district, and left the Hawks for later consideration ; 

 this will then account for my going on now to the order con- 

 taining the Rails. The two species of this family most frequently 

 met with were the Coot (Fulica australis J, and the Black- 

 backed Porphyrio (P. melanotus ) both of which species were 

 in great numbers on the lakes and swamps about Kerang and 

 the Murray. I found several nests of the latter bird in the 

 swamps on the New South Wales side of the Murray at 

 Murrabit. The nests were constructed of green grasses, and 

 placed generally in the centre of a tussock growing in the 

 ■ water, but were well above it. The majority contained fresh 

 eggs at the end of November. 



