GYPOICTINIA. 
13 
“ I think after all this testimony there can be little doubt of its 
nest-robbing proclivities, a habit which I think is peculiar to this 
bird, and is not shared by any other member of the Accipiter 
family so far as I know. 1 have often asked the blacks, if the 
Wedge-tailed Eagle robs nests, but they always say no.” 
“The nest of this bird is a rough structure, generally placed on 
a forked horizontal branch, and is often quite as large as that of 
the Wedge-tailed Eagle. It lays two eggs, which in colour and 
shape resemble those of the above mentioned bird, but are much 
smaller. Length 2‘16 x 1"86, being strongly blotched with bright 
rust-red, with spots and dots of the same colour.” 
“It usually lays about the middle of August, and the young 
birds leave the nest about the beginning of December. If 
undisturbed, the old birds resort year after year to the same nest, 
but should it be robbed, they abandon it for ever, and it is never 
occupied by birds of the same species again, although other species 
of hawks, notably the Brown llawk — (Jlieracidea orientalis) 
sometimes takes possession. I have never known the Buzzard to 
touch carrion, or to feed upon anything it did not capture, and 
except at the nest I have never seen them perch on a tree, but I 
have often seen them alight on the ground. The note which is 
something between a whistle and a scream is only uttered when 
visiting the nest.” (P.L.S., A.A IF., Vol. vi., p. 146, Bennett.) 
1 have a series of these handsome eggs now before me, taken by 
]V1 1 . !v. 11. Bennett at different times, they vary considerably, 
some being heavily and richly blotched with reddish-brown and 
lilac, others with bright rust-red, and a tew being but sparingly 
marked with freckles and hair lines of purplish-brown. The 
measurements are as follows :—One specimen taken in September 
1884, at Mossgiel, length ’2-6 inches x 1 '96 inch. Two eggs taken 
iu October 1884, length (A) 2-42 inches x 1-89 inch ; (B) 2-42 
inches x 1*91 inch (dark mr.) An egg taken from a nest which 
contained a young bird also, measures length 2‘.'36 inches x 1-9 
inch. Three light varieties taken from different nests, during 
November 1885, measure length (A) 2 - 35 inches x 1-67 inch ; (B) 
2-27 inches x L68 inch; (C) 2'5 inches x L8 inch, 
