THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
wings of the Falcon. So fierce was its clutch that I had difficulty in releasing 
the Kite, which, though severely wounded, had sufficient strength to make off. 
I cut the Falcon’s wings and kept it in confinement for some time, but it was 
so fierce and untractable that I got disgusted and ended its career. I fancy 
these cases of one bird of prey attacking another with the intention of feasting 
on it are very rare ; in all my wanderings I never saw but one other instance 
of the kind, and in that case the aggressor was a Black-cheeked Falcon {Falco 
Tifielanogenys), and the bird attacked a Delicate Owl {Stfix deliccbtula) ; the 
latter, however, after a short tussle, managed to free itself. A friend of mine, 
who is a keen observer, told me that he was driving a small lot of sheep, and 
a Black Falcon had made several ineffectual efforts to capture a ‘ Ground 
Lark ’ {Anthus australis), and while in pursuit of it some distance ahead of 
the sheep they disturbed a Black Duck {Anas superciliosa) from her nest 
under a cotton bush, and she flew off in the direction the Falcon had gone ; 
the latter caught sight of her, and leaving the ‘ Lark ’ turned and made for 
the Duck, and so great was the concussion when they met that they fell to 
the ground, and my friend on riding up found both dead. A large flat- 
winged dipterous parasite infests the Black Falcon : it moves about sideways 
under the feathers with extraordinary rapidity. The Black Falcon some- 
times breeds here, but not often, for during my long residence (over twenty 
years) in this locality I have only met with their nests on four occasions (one 
only a few days since). The nest I recently found was clearly a case of 
appropriation, as last year (1883) it was occupied by a pair of Gypoictinia 
melanosternon ; the Falcons had possession, and the nest contained four eggs. 
Immediately beneath the edge of the nest a pair of Xerophila leucopsis had 
constructed their nest, which contained young, and the old birds were flying in 
and out, apparently quite unconcerned at the proximity of their dangerous 
neighbours, well knowing that the interstices between the large sticks of 
which the upper nest was composed afforded them a secure asylum.” 
This was reproduced by North in the Austr. Mus. Spec. Cat., No. 1, 
when he added a further note from Mr. K. H. Bennett as follows : “On the 
3rd June, 1889, while out on the run, my dog killed a rabbit, and on returning 
past the spot I was surprised to see a Black Falcon {Falco suhniger) feeding 
on the carcass. This is most unusual, for hitherto I have never known this 
bird, or in fact any of the true Falcons, to feed upon anything they had not 
killed. It is the first example I have seen of the Black Falcon for two years. 
On the 31st December, 1889, whilst driving a lot of sheep, a pair of Black 
Falcons accompanied me for a considerable distance, attracted by the 
grasshoppers disturbed by the sheep. These insects they dexterously caught 
and devoured while on the wing, as did also a Milvus afjj.nis which was 
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