PLATE 



GENUS GYPOICTINIA (Kaup). 



niHIS is a generic appellation suggested by Kaup, for a bird which Gould calls Buteo Melanosternon, 

 but which differs somewhat from the members of that form. 



GYPOICTINIA MELANOSTERNON (Kaup). 



BLACK-BREASTED BUZZARD. 



A LTHOUGH undoubtedly a Buzzard, this species differs to a certain extent from the European 

 form, and the title Gypoictinia has therefore been invented for it. 



It is found in the southern colonies of Australia, but is not by any means common. 



It feeds on every description of animal matter, in discovering which it displays remarkable 

 powers of scent. It is said that the Black-breasted Buzzard will drive an Emu off her nest, 

 and devour the eggs, first dropping a stone from above to break them. This is, however, not well 

 authenticated. 



Except for the slightly larger size of the female, there is no difference between the sexes. 



The head, ear-coverts, throat, chest, and centre of abdomen, black, the feathers of the 

 abdomen tipped with greyish- white ; flanks and under tail-coverts, dark reddish-brown, each feather 

 with a mark of black in the centre ; back of the neck, chestnut-red, with black shafts ; shoulders, 

 buffy-white ; back, dark blackish-brown, margined with chestnut-brown ; primaries, white at the base, 

 black for the remainder of the length ; rest of wing-feathers and tail, brownish -black ; irides, dark 

 reddish-brown ; bill, dark grey at the tip, buffy-white at the base ; legs and feet, yellow. 



Habitats : New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia. 



