NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN ACCIPITRES. 
431 
on their respective eggs close beside each other; “ and both,” adds 
Gould, “ would doubtless have reared their progenies had I not robbed 
the nests of their contents to enrich my collection.” 
I was present at the taking of the eggs of the Whistling Eagle 
in my collection; Mr. Harry Barnard, of Coomooboolaroo, being the 
climbing performer. The tree was by the lagoon near the homestead, 
and the nest by actual tape measurement was 85 feet from the ground. 
Eor about half the distance steps had to be chopped in the smooth 
barrel w ith a tomahawk in order to reach the first forked limb. While 
Mr. Harry was climbing, the bird scuttled off her nest and flew directly 
away. Eggs were previously taken from the same nest, and again 
subsequent to my visit, which was 16th October, 1885 ; therefore it 
is proved that the Whistling Eagle, like many of the other hawks, 
reoccupies its old home. That the Whistling Eagle is sometimes an 
autumn breeder (according to the season) has also been proved, for 
the Messrs. Barnard, during the beginning of April, 1883, took a pair 
of that bird’s eggs from a nest. 
Mr. George H. Morton, an astute field observer, took a pair of 
Whistling Eagle’s eggs from a nest in long grass on his farm near the 
river Murray. 
Mr. Charles C. Brittlebank informs me he has taken the 
Whistling Eagle’s eggs from the usual nest in a tree as early as 
the 25th August (1893), near Myrniong, Victoria. Therefore the 
breeding months of this species may be said to extend from August 
to December, and the bird occasionally lays in the autumn in Queens- 
land. 
Milyus affinis, Gould. 
(Allied Kite.) 
Figure. — Gould : “Birds of Australia,” fol., vol. i., pi. 21. 
Previous Descriptions of Fggs. — Bamsay : P. L. S., N.S. W., vol. 
vii., p. 413 (1882) ; Hortli : Catalogue Nests and Eggs Australian 
Birds, app. (1890); Hume: Nests and Eggs Indian Birds, vol. iii., 
p. 170 (1890). 
Geographical Distribution. — Australia ; also New Guinea and 
Malayan Archipelago, ranging as far north as India and China. 
Nest. — A somewhat rough structure composed of sticks, lined 
inside with pieces of sheepskin with wool attached or other substitutes, 
and situated in a tree or on a bush. Sometimes a deserted nest of 
another bird of prey is used. 
Fggs. — Clutch, 3-4; round ovals in shape; surface somewhat fine 
but lustreless ; colour dull white, sparingly marked v r ith spots and 
blotches of reddish-brown ; inside lining of the shell greenish. A 
clutch from the Adelaide Museum, in Mr. Dudley Le Souef’s 
collection, measures in centimetres: (example sparsely marked on 
smaller end) 5*15 x 3*86; (example faintly marked on top) 5*25 x 4*0 ; 
(example lightly smudged about the lower half) 5*46 x 3*98, 
Observations. — I considered the eggs Dr. Earnsay first described 
as altogether too small for so large a bird; while the eggs I described, 
I have reason to believe now, were not laid by an Allied Kite at all. 
However, Mr. North, who has had an opportunity of examining 
many specimens that pass from time to time through the Australian 
Museum, says there is a great variation in their size, shape, and colour 
and disposition of their markings. 
