THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
In the Austr. Mus. Spec. Cat., no. 1, Vol. III., p. 215-6, 1911, North 
quotes part of the above and adds : “ As seventy-two years have elapsed 
since Gould noted this species in the Cove of Sydney, it is interesting to 
record that the White-bellied Sea-Eagle still occurs in Port Jackson, although 
it is not nearly so frequently seen as it was ten years ago. On the upper parts 
of Middle Harbour, an arm of Port Jackson, and about seven miles from 
Sydney, I have often seen these birds while fishing, and a pair have bred for 
many years near the head of this inlet. In former years a pair of birds used 
to breed considerably lower down towards the entrance to Middle Harbour, 
but the tree they nested in was cut down. ... On the 31st May, 1901, I 
saw one of these birds rise from near the surface of the water at Middle 
Harbour, the five outer primaries standing out separate and distinct like the 
spread fingers on one’s hand, and resembling altogether, with its long wings 
and short tail, a huge moth. Slowly it started to soar in circles in a gently 
rising spiral ascent, like ascending an aerial staircase ; this it continued for 
ten minutes, timing it by my watch in hand. Then it reversed the order of 
its spiral ascent and continued its upward flight : now only a glimpse of silver 
could be seen as it turned its breast to the sun. At last, when it looked only 
like a dot in the sky, I saw it joined by its mate, and quickly both were lost 
to view. Might not this soaring often be done as a means of ascertaining the 
whereabouts of its consort ? It could not be with the object of procuring 
food. . . . The usual food of this species consists of various mammals, fish, 
birds, tortoises, eels and the larger Crustacea. It will also occasionally 
capture and carry off any small domestic animal. On Phillip Island, Western 
Port Bay, Victoria, in my early collecting days, it used to carry off the young 
kids of Angora goats. One of these birds I dissected contained portions of 
a large sea mullet, a piece of wiry dead grass, and the remains of undigested 
portions of fish, scales and fish-bones.” 
North, in the same place, gives many full notes regarding the 
nidification and eggs of this bird, and I here quote a few extracts con- 
cerning its habits. Mr. George Savidge stated : “ Under the nests at 
Cangai were strewn the empty shells of tortoises : the place smelt of 
them ; they were also upon the platform of sticks that form the bulky 
nest. My friends at Ulmarra have seen this Eagle catch and carry away 
shot ducks, and upon one occasion it had a great struggle with a full-grown 
goose that was on the water, but did not succeed in killing it.” Mr. W. C. 
Plummer said that he recollected one of these Eagles carrying off a sucking- 
pig, but from contemporary accounts of this bird’s strength such a feat seems 
doubtful. Mr. George Masters gave this note to North : “ When collecting 
at Port Lincoln, South Australia, in November, 1865, with a companion, he 
140 
