APPENDIX. 
back of head and neck rusty red. Is common on the Mitchell District and 
equally so below the range, but adults are more numerous in the former 
and immature in the latter, at least fifty to one. Since sheep have been turned 
loose in paddocks instead of shepherded, as formerly was universal, immense 
numbers of these birds have been poisoned, which from their readiness to eat 
carrion is easily done. By far the greater number are, however, immature 
birds, old black ones are in fact scarce : it still, however, is common ; there 
is now however a reaction in favour of dingoes and eagles, as the marsupials 
have in a few years increased to such an extent as, in many districts, where 
poisoning was most vigorously carried out, to drive out the sheep and their 
owners. The only harm done by Wedgetails is during lambing, when they 
are most destructive to young lambs, khling far more than they eat, one 
grip across the back being enough for most lambs. 
“ Uroaetus audax breeds in this district, and its nests are tolerably 
common about here : for want of large trees they use small ones. I have 
seen a nest in a tree only 10 feet from the ground. A bottle tree is often used : 
a smooth tree with a trunk the shape of a soda-water bottle, spreading above 
into a convenient fork ; the nest is very large, made of sticks, and is used 
year after year, only added to and lined ; eggs two, dirty white blotched with 
reddish brown, but I never found more than one young bird ; the old birds, 
as far as I have seen, take quite coolly the robbing of their nests and generally 
clear out and sail round at a respectful distance, in spite of its name, showing 
very little of the pluck attributed to it. 
“ Though so large a bird, it can fly fast when in pursuit of anything ; 
I have seen it descend head first from a great height with a loud rushing noise 
and knock over a wallaby. I have also seen two in company hunt a young 
calf, and young emus are easily killed, one bird striking it about the head 
and then the other giving it no time to recover. Bustards are very frightened 
of them and always keep on the look-out.” 
Mr. J. P. Rogers writes of the North-west Australian form : “ These 
Eagles cause great loss of lambs on the Eitzroy. The birds g^^her at 
lambing-time and take many lambs. I have counted 40 Eagles in one 
paddock which contained lambing ewes : on the opposite side of the river 
was an unstocked paddock and in this I hardly ever saw an eagle unless it 
was flying over. At Mungi several of these birds were seen ; dingoes had 
killed many sheep on Knowla Downs and these birds fed on the carcases.” 
Mr. E. J. Christian has forwarded the following note: “This bird 
adapts itself to the country it frequents. In mountainous districts, as 
in the North-east of Victoria and in Tasmania, it builds in impregnable 
places : if there are no such positions on the mountains, it builds in the 
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