THE BIEDS OP AUSTEALIA. 
“ Adult, length 24 inches, breadth 61 inches, wing closed 19J inches, tail 
8 inches, weight SJ lbs. 
“ Full grown bhd of the year 24, wing 19, tail 8| inches ; chin and throat 
rufous, streaked downwards with dusky on centre of feathers ; breast and belly 
rufous or reddish orange, broadly streaked down centre of feathers with black ; 
under taU-coverts, sides and thighs plain rufous tinged with chestnut; small 
feathers from base of quills to the elbow of wing on underside white, streaked 
black ; back of the head rufous chestnut streaked with black ; back, tail and 
wings as in the adult, but the white at the base of the primary quills much 
less extensive. This bird haunted a lambing-place for some time in company 
with two others both with black breasts, and from their difference in size 
evidently male and female ; it was much less shy than the adults and was 
ultimately poisoned, but unfortunately was not found until too late to be 
preserved. The description given above I took from the bird; on the wing 
it had a very different appearance from the adults, looking less black and not 
showing so much white in the primaries, so much so that I first mistook it 
for a specimen of Milvus isurus, which has a very similar flight and also has 
a white patch at the base of the primaries, and I could not make out its being 
in company with 0. melanosterna. 
“ The closed wings in the Black-breasted Buzzard exceed the tail b}" 
fully an inch. I thmk the dimensions I have given are taken from males, 
as I have an adult skin with a wing 20|^ inches from elbow' to tip of longest 
feather and generally larger than the above, which are measured while fresh. 
The black breast is not assumed until the second year probably. I have only 
seen black-breasted birds breeding.” 
Mr. J. P. Eogers, regarding North-west Australia, observed : “ At 
Marngle Creek this species was fairly numerous, but none were seen in full 
plumage. 
“ At Mungi only one immature bird was seen. I have very seldom seen 
an adult plumaged bird of this species. When at Point Torment, King 
Sound, I often saw these birds ; some writers say this bird is of the interior, 
but this does not apply to Kimberley.” 
Grey Falcon . . . . . . . . Falco hypoleucus, ante^ p. 234. 
Mr. J. B. White wrote about 1875 regarding this bird : “ In ten years 
I have only seen about a dozen of these birds, three of which I shot, one 
adult female and adult male, but with a few brown youthful feathers left, 
and one young male. I have never seen it on the coast, and it is I consider 
by far the most scarce of the Australian Falcons. 
