14 
FALCON ID33. 
Hah. Derby, N.W.A., New South Wales, Interior, Victoria 
and South Australia, W. and S.W. Australia. (Ramsay.) 
Genus EL ANUS, Savigny. 
ELANUS AXILLARIS, Latham. 
Black-shouldered Kite. 
(I’oulil , llandbk. Jids. Aunt., Vol. i., sp. 23, p. 53. 
Dr. Ramsay writes in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society 
of New South Wales as follows : — 
“ During the last six years several pairs of these hawks have 
been known to breed on the Iindah Estate, on the Mary River in 
Queensland, but it was only in November last (1877) that a pair 
gave my brother (Mr. John Ramsay) an opportunity of taking 
their nest and eggs, which was not lost.” 
“ The nest in question was placed among the topmost forked 
branches of a Ff inderma, and as usual, composed of sticks and 
twigs; it was not, however a bulky structure, as is often the case 
with the Australian hawk’s nests. The eggs were three in number 
but my brother assures me that four is the correct number for a 
sitting. The ground colour, where visible, is of a dull white, but 
it is mostly obscured by blotches and smears of a dark reddish- 
chocolate. Length (A) DC x 1-25 inch ; (B) 1-72 x 1-25 inch ; 
(0) 1 -58 x 1-27 inch. One specimen (A) is reddish rusty chocolate 
smeared and clouded with a darker tinge.” ( P.L.S., iV.S. W., 
Vol. ii., p. 109, Ramsay.) 
Dr. Cox has a very handsome set of the eggs of this bird in his 
collection ; taken on the Hawkesbury River, New South Wales, 
they are heavily blotched all over with rich, reddish-chocolate 
markings, and measure as follows. Length (A) 1 - 65 x 1*23 inch; 
(B) 1*67 x 1-24 inch; (C) 1*66 x 1*23 inch. 
Hah. Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York, Rockingham Bay, Port 
Denison, Wide Bay District, Dawson River, Richmond and 
Clarence River Districts, New South Wales, Interior, Victoria 
and South Australia, W. and S.W. Australia. (Ramsay.) 
