LEPIDOGENYS SUBCRISTATUS, Gould. 
Crested Hawk. 
Lepiaogenys suhcristatus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, Part V. p. 140 ; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part III. 
I KEGBET to say that I am not sufficiently acquainted with this singular species to give any account of its 
habits and economy, but, judging from the feebleness of its bill and talons and the shortness of its tarsi, I 
conceive that it principally preys upon insects and their larvae ; and it is not improbable that honey and the 
larvae of bees and ants, which abound in Australia, may form a portion of its food. Any information on 
this head that may have been ascertained by residents in Australia would, if made known, be of the highest 
interest to ornithologists, as an addition to the history of this singular form among the Falconidce. Its 
extreme rarity, however, will, I fear, tend much to prevent the acquirement of this desirable information. 
I saw it soaring high in the air over the plains in the neighbourhood of the Namoi, but never sufficiently 
near to admit of a successful shot. All the specimens I have seen were collected either at Moreton Bay or 
on the banks of the Clarence. 
As little or no difference exists in the plumage of the specimens I have examined, I presume that the 
sexes are very similar. 
Crown of the head, sides of the face, ear-coverts, and upper part of the back brownish grey ; occiput and 
lengthened occipital plumes blackish brown ; back and scapulars brown ; wings uniform dark brownish grey 
above, beneath silvery grey ; primaries and secondaries crossed by several bands, and largely terminated 
with black ; rump and upper tail-coverts chocolate-brown ; tail brownish grey above, lighter beneath, crossed 
by three narrow bands of black near the base, and deeply terminated with the same colour; throat, chest, 
part of the slioulder, and under tail-coverts greyish white tinged with rufous ; abdomen, flanks and thighs 
huffy white, crossed with conspicuous narrow bands of reddish chestnut ; bill bluish horn-colour ; tarsi 
yellowish. 
The Plate pourtrays the bird of the natural size. 
