78 
The Queensland Naturalist October, 1930 
of the Honorary Secretary that the success of the Show 
was insured. 
o — 
BIRD NOTES 
Taken on Club’s Visit to Goodna and Woogaroo 
Scrub, Upper Brisbane River, 3rd June, 1930. 
By J. O’Neil Brenan. 
Taking advantage of the holiday on the King’s 
Birthday, members of the Queensland Naturalists’ Club 
and some of their friends paid a visit to the Woogaroo 
Scrub. 
A westerly wind not only appeared to keep the birds 
quiet in the early part of the day, but also made it diffi- 
cult to always identify all that were seen. I was able 
to note the following species: The Leatherhead and his 
small relative, the Little Friar Bird, Noisy Miner, Grey 
Butcher Bird, Black-headed Pardalote (chip chip),. 
Tranquil Dove, White-shafted Fantail, Lewin Honeyeater, 
Golden and Rufous-breasted Whistler, Tree-tit, Yellow- 
] limped tit, Dusky Wood Swallow, Welcome Swallow, 
Scale y-breasted Lorrikeet, Currawong or Scrub Magpie, 
Jacky Winter, Willy Wagtail. Rainbow or Bee-eater, 
Yellow-faced Honeyeater or Chick-up, Mistletoe Bird, Fee- 
wees, Crows and Black-shouldered Kite. The Leather- 
heads were fairly numerous, and their well-known prattl- 
ing voices, especially towards evening, could be heard all 
around the bush outside of Goodna. 
The Black-shouldered Kite ranges all over Australia, 
but is rarely seen in any numbers; in fact, 1 have only 
seen the bird in pairs. He is a beautiful bird, slightly over 
12 inches long. Upper part delicate grey, head and under 
part white, black shoulder and patch under wings, tail 
greyish white. 
He obtains or catches all his food, which consists of 
small reptiles and insects, from the ground, and works 
the likely places, grass or cultivated paddocks, by hover- 
ing beautifully some height up. If going against the 
wind, he remains motionless as if suspended or resting 
on an invisible wire. When he sees or thinks he sees 
anything, he drops gently like a small parachute on the 
intended victim. Too frequently, I am afraid, he has 
been mistaken for a Sparrow Hawk, and shot, but really 
he is one of the most useful birds we have. The size of 
his feet or claws show that he was never created to deal 
with anything more powerful than an insect or small 
reptile. 
