Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 5 (1901).djvu/284

258 Mr. North in the Vict. Nat. August, 1900. It is not uncommon in parts of the N.W. Cape peninsula. It appears mostly in the dense low scrub on the flat between the range and the sea, but also occurs in the spinifex in the high range. It flies readily when disturbed, and does not appear to creep so much as the Amytis and Stipiturus; but its flight is heavy and fluttering, and only for about twenty or fifty yards. They will lie very close after being once flushed. I have no data of their breeding except on Oct. 25th, I shot two which appeared to have been recently breeding. One of them contained a grasshopper fully an inch long, the other a quantity of small black beetles. The only noise I have heard them utter is a harsh "chat chat." Turkeys in down were noted on July 11th, the first eggs on June 4th, and the last on Aug. 28th. July 12th, found a Spotted Harrier's nest with two eggs. These birds were common this good season, and I found numerous nests up to Sept. 13th, when a nest contained two fresh eggs. The nests are built sometimes in a tree forty feet from the ground, or in a bush only four feet high. They frequently contain large Lizards in a paralysed state, placed for the benefit of the sitting bird; one nest contained four eggs.

Kites (Milvus affinis) were very common in 1900, but rarely visited the coast. Inland, when driving through the high grass, they were at times a nuisance, as several of them would accompany the buggy in order to feed upon the numerous grasshoppers which were disturbed in the vegetation. The birds would flit close past the horses' heads, making them startled and nervous. They appeared to catch the grasshoppers with their feet, and fed on the wing. About the middle of July numbers of their nests were to be found in the white gums. The birds appear to prefer to build towards the end of horizontal limbs. Little Eagles (Nisaëtus morphnoides) generally build in the fork of a large straight-stemmed tree. I found a nest containing one egg on July 18th, another on the 21st with two, and one with newly-hatched young, and a fourth nest the next day with two eggs much incubated. The birds are very shy, and seem to be fond of feeding on the Teal. Black-shouldered Kites (Elanus axillaris) were fairly plentiful this winter, but very shy. They have not occurred here since the great drought of 1890–91. I failed to find any nests, but saw birds here early in October. About