74 
A.N AUSTRALIAN BIRD BOOK. 
The American Bobolink and Chickadee are famous birds, 
chiefly on account of an appropriate name; so is the British 
Cuckoo, while its even more noisy, more common, and practically 
identical Australian cousin is still unknown, or rather was until 
recently. The introduction of Bird Day has already produced 
gratifying results. We need good descriptive names for our 
varied and beautiful birds — more children's and poets' names, and 
less of the deadly formal "Yellow-vented Parrakeet," "Blue-bellied 
Lorikeet," and "Warty-faced Honeyeater" for some of the most 
glorious of the world's birds. 
The old Order Raptores — birds of prey — included Hawks and 
Eagles, and Owls. These are now placed in two orders as 
"Diurnal Birds of Prey" — Hawks, and "Nocturnal Birds of 
Prey'* — Owls. They all seize prey with the very well-developed 
talons, and not with the bill. Hence they were called Raptores — 
seizing birds. They use these talons when flying, and do not 
catch prey in scrub, or very close to the ground, unless in a clear 
space. 
The two Harriers are typically Ground Hawks. The name is 
said to be derived from the habit these birds are said to possess 
of harrying birds. They are generally called "Swamp Hawks," 
and may frequently be seen flying low over bushes, to beat 
birds out. 
The Goshawks — i.e., Goosehawks — possibly received their name 
by confusion, as possibly a Falcon to hunt Geese was kept in 
olden days, but probably it was not this bird. Three of these 
birds are rare. The White Goshawk is a fine bird, and is 
confined to Australia and Tasmania. The Australian Goshawk 
is said to be the only troublesome Hawk to the poultry 
farmer, and he bears a bad name generally. The Lesser Gos- 
hawk is a casual visitor in the Eastern States. 
The Sparrowhawk of the ornithologist is much feared by small 
birds. He lurks in ambush, suddenly flashes out upon his prey, 
and is away with it instantly. The male is one of the 
smallest of Hawks. It is an almost universal rule in this order 
of birds that the females are larger, often much larger, than the 
males, and that there are several changes of plumage iDefore the 
adult plumage is finally donned, so it is often a matter of- diffi- 
culty to determine exactly the name of one of these birds. 
Eagles are found the world over except in New Zealand. Our 
Eagle has the honor of being, as already stated, the largest Eagle 
in the world. It is also of undoubted courage, as its specific 
name, audax (bold) would lead one to suppose. It is, further, 
Gould says, of a "far more pleasing and elegant contour" than the 
Golden Eagle, the "pride and pest of the parish." Whoever heard 
of an Australian who was proud of his Eagle, though it is some- 
I thing to be proud of? Let our noble bird appear near a house, 
' and there is a rush for a gun. On Eyre Peninsula we found the 
Eagles fed their young on rabbits, a serious pest in Australia. 
The equivalent of our Sea Eagle is the White-headed or Bald 
Eagle of America, the female of which is the same length as the 
