lm "wth great icrociiy" until the 

 ,., C s weie uncovered, iind then it 

 5d -uikc up a stone wnh its feet 

 , m l while hovering above the nest, 

 Jt 'it full upon Ihc eggs and crush 



jJloQ years later (1912) A. J. 

 , ,,, i, BonfifPk«d ' nis report on flw 

 lfflJldF Jtj of K. H. Bennett, an expen- 

 jTOfld ornithologist living in south- 

 western Now South Wales. Remarking 

 ,,n the extraordinary -cunning ami 

 <ae,'ieity" of the Buzzard. Bennett 

 iaul foal upon seeing an Finn brood- 

 int me predator would approach It 

 w nh .Miisirelchcd flapping wings and 

 when the eggs were uncovered a 

 stone would he used to hreak diem. 

 If no stone was available I in one 

 case a missile of the kind had been 

 carried from a long distance I a hard 

 p.eee of calcined earth would be 

 used. 



Bennett did not make clear the 

 inanncr in which Hie Buzzard wielded 

 its rnisMle, but another writer. Gor- 

 jon IF, I-eilch of northern Queeus- 

 has Mated that he actually saw 

 a pan of Buzzards flapping over art 

 EtntlV nest und dropping stones, 

 while the owners, whieh evidently 

 had been driven away, were walking 

 about in a short distance. 



Adding thai some of ihc missiles 

 m his case missed their marks, 

 Lchch says that although the preda- 

 tors 'detinicelv dropped the stones 

 the air', he had heard of « ease 

 in which the stones had heeil used 

 as hammers. This, it is suggested, 

 niiiy be Ihc means adopted with eggs 

 fit the Bustard, which, hemg much 

 BOTHllCt and fesver in number than 

 those ot the Firm, would present a 

 more ditficuh laiget from the air: and 

 moreover ihev would be easier to 

 break at Close r,.ri ? C. cithct W« UK 

 K-uk or small stone held m 'he 

 beak. 



July, 1971 



Another interesting sidelight is 

 that fragments of Ihe eggs ol" both 

 Emus and Bustards have sometimes 

 been found in Buzzards' nests. Per- 

 haps these portions were carried 

 ;.s«.f\ when there was competition at 

 a raided nest. F. L. Berney reported 

 from northern Queensland in 1905 

 that he had been astonished 10 see 

 six Buzzards feeding on a hatch ot 

 hall a dozen Emu eggs, all broker, 

 and all fresh. A round stune. the 

 size of a hen's egg. was lying neat by 

 By what means. Berney asks, was the 

 news of that discovery spread m the 

 case of a species rare in that area.' 

 ' I would not have thought", he adds, 

 there were that number or Buz- 

 zards within one hundred miles of 

 ihe spot" 



Further to Ihe striking mailer of 

 the relatively small predaior driving 

 Ihe greal Emu off ils nesl. Mr. John 

 f u/gerald. of Mount Maigaiet, W.A.. 

 senl me some yenis ago a picturesque 

 rcpon given him Ivy Jenny, an Abori- 

 ginal housemaid employed on a dts 

 • net station. This is Jenny's rucilal. 



•rviiu lav plenty feller big eggs. 

 Bit feller cacle wani >m Pagle flv 

 round •in' round Emu nolhin' p:t 

 up; keep all.< time lop cges. havU" 

 IK away old f offer black ' camp, eel 

 I em in ash-heap, make 'Oltsclf while. 

 Fiji b.ick srorfS ttotf. Witfk up emu's 

 ■ n.-- 1 win^s like rlus' Kpitadmii her 

 jTTnxji "|jini frightened Feller Run 

 awny. Eagle pick up vaht>:'. i-iohci. 

 ur.ip im on emu cat fart 'cm oil 

 longa nest quick Idler. I'-Jtem Up" 



On ihe whole, Ihete is .unple cvi- 

 ilenee lo indicate ihat a Buzzard may 

 ..dopi -shocV tactics to disturb a 

 brooding Emu (and that in mm indi- 

 cates thai ihe robber realises that 

 eggs arc present, without seeing 

 them); but. of course, the 1 make 

 'misclf white" p.irl of the fotegoing 

 miotation need not necessarily be 

 ocveptod 1 1 can he regarded, per- 

 haps, as an Aboriginal "ghost Story". 



181 



