10 The Queensland Naturalist October, 1931. 
scrub turkey, curlew, and jackasses. In their nests 1 have 
found remains of opossums, frilled lizards, jew lizards, 
and portion of a large brown snake. They are said to 
kill lambs. Suppose they do, the carcase of an old sheep, 
with the pelt removed, poisoned, will destroy the eagle 
doing the mischief, also any others in the district. For 
where the carcase is, there will the eagles be found. Any- 
how, Eagles are not numerous enough to upset the balance 
of nature either way. 
But let us get back to the two I named, we will take 
the Whistling Eagle first. This is by far the most com- 
mon Eagle we have, and the most destructive. During the 
breeding season of water-fowl these Hawks, live about the 
swamps and lagoons, where they generally work in pairs, 
any young ducks or other young water-fowl fall victims 
to them. Their method of working is for one bird to 
swoop at a brood in the water, which immediately dive, 
the second Hawk is ready, and the instant the young birds 
show above the water they have to dive again. This is 
kept up till exhaustion compels the birds to remain on 
the surface, when they are picked up in the Eagle’s claws 
and carried off to be eaten. 
The little Eagle live mostly on such lizards as the 
Frilled and Jew. Two kinds of lizards that are very de- 
structive to young birds and eggs. I have never known 
the little Eagle to catch a bird or take a young one, and 
1 have frequently examined their nests, when they con- 
tained young, to see what they did feed on. 
I now come to that evil bird “The Crow. 77 I hate 
crows, and I think most people who know their habits 
will agree with me in calling them evil. Yet we must not 
let our dislike cloud our judgment, and it may surprise 
you to hear, that in spite of his evil ways, I consider the 
crow one of, if not the most, valuable birds we have in 
Australia. 
In support of my contention \ will first place before 
you what I consider the crow’s bad points. Then the good, 
and you can judge for yourselves. 
Crows are robbers, they steal birds’ eggs whenever 
they get a chance. They rob the poultry yards, even to 
carrying off the china nest eggs. They are destructive in 
cultivation fields and orchards. In the grain fields they 
tear open the maize cobs and eat the juicy young grain. 
They eat grapes and other fruits, even pineapples. They 
spread the prickly pear. But their worst crime is in at- 
tacking weak animals and pecking their eyes out. They 
worry weak ewes, causing them to desert their lambs which 
then become victims of the crows. In these crimes the 
Crow does not have it all his own way. Take the poultry 
