ALLIED HAERIER (SWAMP-HAWK). 
Adult female. General colour of the upper-parts dark brown with pale tawny and rufous 
edgings to the feathers ; crown of head pale rufous with dark centres to the feathers; 
the feathers of the hind-neck and sides of neck dark brown with tawny margins; 
back and scapulars dark brown with pale edgings to the feathers ; lower back 
and rump similar with broader rufous edgings to the feathers, as also the upper tail- 
coverts which have whitish tips ; lesser, median, and greater wing-coverts broadly 
tipped with rufous and edged with whitish ; bastard-wing grey, barred and tipped 
with dark brown with a fringe of white, primary-coverts similarly marked ; outer 
primary-quills uniform dark brown mottled with rufous on the inner-webs near the 
base, inner primaries and secondaries dark brown crossed with blackish bars and 
more or less rufous on the inner webs, also fringed with white at the tips ; tail 
brown crossed by seven blackish bands broadly tipped with whitish, and more 
or less rufous on the inner webs ; facial ruff pale rufous and narrowly lined with 
black ; throat, fore-neck, breast, and sides of body tawny rufous narrowly streaked 
with brown ; abdomen and under tail-coverts similar but paler ; thighs uniform 
buffy-white ; axillaries and under wing-coverts similar but more rufous ; the 
greater under wing-coverts grey barred with brown and tinged with rufous. BiU 
lead-blue ; iris pale brown ; cere olive-grey ; tarsi and feet greyish-white. Total 
length 600 mm. ; culmen 31, wing 436, tail 390, tarsus 102. Collected on the 
Richmond River, northern New South Wales, in March, 1876. 
Adult male. Similar to the adult female but smaller and darker above, and the stripes 
on the breast-feathers more pronounced. Wing 425 mm., tarsus 94. Figured. 
Collected at Botany Bay, New South Wales, in July, 1894. 
Immature female. General colour of the upper-surface almost uniform dark brown, the 
feathers of the head and hind-neck slightly fringed with tawny rufous ; tail grey 
with five dark cross-bars, outer-feathers tinged with tawny rufous ; facial ruff 
and entire under-surface rich rufous-brown. Wing 431 mm., tarsus 99. Collected 
in the Victorian Alps in April, 1887. 
Immature male. Dark brown above with pale rufous or whitish margins to the feathers ; 
upper tail-coverts white with a rufous-brown subterminal bar ; quills more hoary- 
grey on the outer webs and more rufous on the inner ones ; tail-feathers more grey, 
the dark cross-bars fewer in number, more or less obsolete, and reduced to spots, 
the outer feathers more rufous and the tips whiter ; the under-surface paler rufous 
and more broken up into streaks. Wing 407 mm., tarsus 93. Collected at Botany 
Bay, New South Wales, in August, 1894. 
Nestling. Covered with down ; second plumage undescribed. 
The birds from North-west Australia and Northern Territory are very similar to the 
female described, but distinctly more buff below and smaller. A male collected on 
Parry’s Creek, North-west Australia, on the 22nd of January, 1909, by Mr. T. P. 
Rogers measures : total length 560 mm. ; culmen 28, wing 376, tail 240, tarsus 88, 
and is the type of G. a. inexpectatus. 
Nest. A flatish platform composed of sticks, etc., and lined with grass placed on the 
ground near a swamp. Outside measurements 18 inches wide by 8 inches deep : 
inside 6 inches by 2| inches deep. 
Eggs. Clutch three to five; ground-colour bluish-white without gloss. Inside of the 
shell green, lighter than those of assimilis. Axis 50-55 mm., diameter 39-40. 
(Tasmania, November.) 
Breeding-season. September to January. 
The early history of this common bird is lost in obscurity, having apparently 
been included, without differentiation, in the general term of “ Hawks.” 
VOL. V. 
25 
