152 BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
the latter. The two birds inhabit very much the 
same class of country, that is to say, the more open 
parts of the forest, but never the plains ; and like 
the Goshawk, the Sparrow-hawk makes occasional visits 
to within the very limits of the city. Their habits, 
also, are identical, this species being equally destructive 
of small birds and taking also an occasional chicken. 
The Sparrow-hawk is much the rarer of the two. The 
last I saw was at Anglesea ; it was pursuing a Honey- 
eater, and darted past at a height of but a few feet 
over my head at a simply amazing speed. 
The nest is built of sticks, and the only one I have 
seen was placed at least 60 feet high, in one of a 
clump of ironbark trees two miles west of Torquay. 
Another, with three eggs, was found not far from 
Ocean Grove. The eggs are relatively small, and 
are white, with a few almost black smears and spots. 
It will be noted that this bird is not the one com- 
monly called Sparrow-hawk. That is the Kestrel, a 
bird to which we shall come presently. 
WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE 
Uroaetus audax audax 
Seeing that our Australian bird is appreciably larger 
than the lordly Golden Eagle of Europe, one cannot 
help regretting that it should ever have received the 
belittling name of Eagle-hawk. 
In spite of its suffering the fate of all raptorial 
birds at the hands of the average country gunner, 
