WHITE GOSHAWK. 
prove it. This is in regard to the Hawks. In my first letter from here I 
stated that I hoped to prove that the three Hawks — namely^ Astur cinereus^ 
A. novcehollandice and A. leucosomus — ^were the same bird. At the first four 
nests taken the birds of two of the nests were both grey, as in A. cinereus ; 
at the other two the birds were pure white ; then Mr. Bert Jardine informed 
me of a nest where one bird was pure white and the other grey. As he was 
leaving for New Guinea he offered to show me the nest, which was eight 
miles from here, towards Somerset. I went with him and we flushed a grey 
bird from the nest. As it was too late for further investigations that night, 
I proceeded with him to Somerset, returning the following day. Next 
morning, getting a daybreak start (I had a tramp of 16 miles, besides shooting 
the birds and having a large tree to climb), I reached my destination about 
9 o’clock, and flushed a pure white bird from the nest. This bird, which was 
very shy, proved to be the male. After waiting about two hours, the bird 
returned to the edge of the nest, where I shot it. As it lay on the nest, I was 
afraid the dead bird would frighten its mate on its return, so I started to 
climb to the nest. To the first fork was about 50 feet. I was about 
half-way up when the female, a grey bird, flew into the nest and sat beside 
the dead one. Quickly I made my way down the tree for my gun, and as 
the bird hopped off the nest on to a limb, I secured it for complete 
identification. I then finished the climb, and got the other bird and a set 
of three eggs. One of the eggs was pierced in the end by a shot, but this 
will only make the set more interesting, as it in no wise spoilt the egg. On 
my way home I found another nest, from which the female flew, and she was 
pure white. I waited about half an hour before climbing:, as I wanted to see 
the male, and when he came he was grey — so in one day I got a nest with 
a white male and grey female and vice versa. I obtained another female 
from a nest at which both birds were grey, and it is identical with the grey 
bird shot with the white male. The grey birds are undoubtedly the ones 
classed as A. cinereus, while the white are exactly like A. novcehol^indicB. 
The birds are larger than A. approximans, and the eggs considerably larger. 
As I have the skins — ^I regretted having to shoot these fine birds — to prove 
the relationship, and it may be some time before they come into your 
possession, I ask you, in justice to Mr. Jardine who first brought the matter 
under my notice, and to Bert, who found and showed me the nest from 
which I secured the birds, to kindly place the foregoing facts before some 
ornithological society.’ ” 
In the Emu, Vol. XI., p. 20, July, 1911, Barnard added the following: 
“ Astur novcehollandice. Astur clarus. In the Emu, Vol. X., p. 247, I drew 
attention to the fact that these two birds, which have hitherto been catalogued 
47 
