CATALOGUE 
 
 Au.7Bc 
 
 v.\ 
 
 AUSTi r i|AN BIRDS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM, 
 
 AT 
 
 SYDNEY, N.S.W. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 ACCIPITPES. 
 
 SYDNEY : 
 
 PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 
 
 I876. 
 
BIBLIOTHEQUE 
 
 L. BRASIL 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 
 
 https://archive.org/details/catalogueofaustr01aust 
 
CATALOGUE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 4 
 
 AUSTRALIAN BIRDS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM, 
 
 SYDNEY, N.S.W. 
 PART I. 
 
 ACCIPITPES. 
 
 SYDNEY : 
 
 PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 
 
 1876. 
 

CATALOGUE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 AUSTRALIAN ACCIPITRES 
 
 OR 
 
 DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY 
 
 INHABITING AUSTRALIA, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 COLLECTION OE THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM 
 
 AT 
 
 SYDNEY, N.S.W. 
 
 BY 
 
 E. PIERSON RAMSAY, EL.S, C.M.Z.S., Ac., Ac. 
 
 CURATOR OF THE MUSEUM, SYDNEY. 
 
 SYDNEY : 
 
 PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 
 
 1876. 
 

 
 \ 
 
Ode. !<?, (W CUm^ 
 
 538 . 2 . 
 
 Au.78^ 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 This Part I of the Catalogue of Australian Birds 
 contains a description of all the Species of the 
 Accipitres or Diurnal Birds of Prey at present known 
 to inhabit Australia — in all 27 Species — and a list 
 of such as are contained in the collection of the 
 
 o 
 
 CP 
 
 o> 
 
 cr 
 
 Australian Museum. 
 
 E. P. R. 
 
 _c 
 
 O 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The line collection of the Australian Diurnal Birds of Prey now 
 exhibited in our Museum contains, with one exception, # examples 
 of all the species which at the present time are known to inhabit 
 this vast continent. Even in so extensive an exhibition of but 
 comparatively a small group, certain breaks arising from the 
 absence of specimens to duly represent the varied stages of 
 growth, still occur and interfere with the regularity of the series 
 appropriate to each species. 
 
 In order then to render this descriptive Catalogue of our rap- 
 torial birds as complete as possible, other collections have been 
 carefully examined, and the additional information thus obtained 
 has been embodied in the general text. In two or three instances 
 where the specimens were very indifferent, or altogether wanting, 
 recourse has been had for their description to the British Museum 
 Catalogue of 1874, always in such cases pointing ou the authori- 
 ties relied on. 
 
 Mr. Sharpe’s Synopsis of the Accipitrine Order is for the most 
 part adopted in the present arrangement, and his “ Keys to the 
 Genera” are also given, as they will prove valuable in showing 
 the relations between the Australian forms and those of the other 
 portions of. the Globe. 
 
 The total number examined of specimens belonging to this 
 group (Diurnal Birds of Prey) amounted to over 250, of which 
 140, comprising 26 species, are in the Museum collection ; and for 
 this ample display we are chiefly indebted to the exertions of our 
 talented late Collector and Assistant Curator, Mr. George 
 Masters, now in charge of the Macleay Collection. 
 
 * The Black-breasted Buzzard, Gypoictinia melanosterna. 
 
Vlll 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 This Catalogue contains not only an account and description 
 of all the known species of Diurnal Accipitres indigenous to 
 this country, but exhibits clearly what examples are required 
 as desiderata for the accomplishment of a perfect series of the 
 group, even from the nestling to the adult in each species.* 
 We call attention to these wants, and urge our friends to assist 
 by their contributions towards the completion of our national 
 collection. 
 
 E. PIERSON RAMSAY. 
 
 “ Pres?' stands for Presented by. 
 
 “ ad.” „ 
 
 adult or full grown. 
 
 “ semi-ad .” „ 
 
 semi-adult or half grown. 
 
 “juv.” „ 
 
 young. 
 
 “ «*•” „ 
 
 skin — not “set up.” 
 
 “ mntdP „ 
 
 “ set up” or “ mounted.” 
 
 
 male. 
 
 “2” 
 
 female. 
 
 ^JNote. — A complete series of any species would be fairly represented by a 
 male and female in each of the sections A, B, C, and D — 
 
 A representing the adults in full plumage. 
 
 B 
 
 }) 
 
 semi-adult. 
 
 C 
 
 )> 
 
 the young. 
 
 D 
 
 >> 
 
 the nestling. 
 
SYSTEMATIC INDEX 
 
 OEDEE, jVCCTI^XTRJES. 
 
 Page. 
 
 SUBORDER, FALCONES. 1 
 
 — Fam. Vulturidse. 2 
 
 (Not represente '1 in Australia.) 
 
 — Fam. Falconidae. 
 
 Subfam. PolyboriNjE. 2 
 (Not represented in Australia .) 
 
 Subfam. Accipitrin^:. 2 
 
 1. Circus, Lacep 4 
 
 1. assimilis, J. Sf S. 4 
 
 2. gouldii, B p 6 
 
 2. Astur, Lacep 8 
 
 1. cinereus, V. 9 
 
 2. novse-hollandiae, Gm 11 
 
 Subsp. a. leucosoraus, Sharpe 12 
 
 3. approximans, V. Sf II. 13 
 
 4. cruentus, Gould 15 
 
 Subgen. a. Erytlirotriorchis.. 16 
 
 5. radiatus, Latham 17 
 
 3. Accipiter, Briss 18 
 
 1. cirrhocephalus, V. 19 
 
 Subfam. Buteoninje. 
 
 (Not represented in Australia.) 
 Subfam. Aquiline. 21 
 
 4. Aquila, Mcehring 25 
 
 Subgen. a. Uroaetus, Kaup... 25 
 
 1. audax, Latham 25 
 
 Subgen. /3. Nisaetus, Hodgs. 27 
 
 2. morplinoides, Gould 28 
 
 5. Ilaliaetus . 30 
 
 1. Haliaetus leucogaster 30 
 
 Page. 
 
 6. Haliastur, Selby 33 
 
 1. indus, Bodd 33 
 
 Var. y. girrenera, V. 33 
 
 2. splienurus, V. 35 
 
 7. Milvus, Samgny 37 
 
 1. affinis, Gould 37 
 
 8. Lophoictinia, Kaup 38 
 
 1. isura, Gould 38 
 
 9. G-ypoictinia, Kaup 40 
 
 1. melanosterna, Gould 40 
 
 10. Elanus, Savigny 41 
 
 1. axillaris, Latham 41 
 
 2. scriptus, Gould 43 
 
 Subfam. Falconinje. 44 
 
 11. Baza, Hodgs 45 
 
 1. subcrisfcata, Gould 45 
 
 12. Falco, L 47 
 
 1. melanogenys, Gould 48 
 
 2. bypoleucus, Gould 49 
 
 3. subniger, Gray 50 
 
 4. lunulatus, Latham 51 
 
 13. Hieracidea, Gould 55 
 
 1. berigora, Vig. Sf Horsf ... 55 
 
 2. orientalis, Schl 57 
 
 14. Tinnunculus, V. 59 
 
 1. cencliroides, Vig . Sf Horsf. 60 
 
 SUBORDER, PAKDIONES 62 
 
 15. Pandion, Savigny 62 
 
 1. lialiaetus, L 62 
 
 Var. fi. leucocephalus, Gould 62 
 

CATALOGUE 
 
 OF 
 
 B I R D S . 
 
 Order I. ACCIPITRES * 
 
 Bill short, strong, stout at the base, more or less 
 compressed, the culmen strongly curved downwards, 
 the direction of the tip perpendicular. Feet strong, 
 armed with powerful curved, elongated, sharp talons, 
 of conical form and rather smooth. Talons capable 
 of being bent under the feet, the inner one stronger 
 than the others and more curved. 
 
 Synopsis of Suborders. 
 
 a. With no facial disk; plumage compact; nostrils 
 generally not concealed by bristles. 
 
 a 1 . Outer toe not reversible FALCONES, 
 
 b l . Outer toe reversible PANDXONES, 
 
 b. With a facial disk ; plumage soft and fluffy ; 
 
 nostrils usually hidden by stiff bristles ...STRIGES. 
 
 Suborder FALCONES. 
 
 Outer toe not reversible ; toes devoid of feathers ; 
 eyes placed laterally in the head ; cere, as a rule, 
 not hidden by bristles, generally soft and fleshy, but 
 often horny. 
 
 *The classification and synonyms given in this list have been compiled 
 chiefly from Gray’s Genera of Birds, and the British Museum Catalogue of 
 
 1874. 
 
2 
 
 PALCONIDiE. 
 
 Synopsis of Families . 
 
 a. Head naked or clothed with down ; no true 
 
 feathers on crown of head Vulturida6. 
 
 h. Head covered with feathers ; true feathers 
 
 always present on croivn of head Falconidse. 
 
 Earn. VULTURIDiE. 
 
 No members of this family yet found in Australia. 
 
 Earn. EALCONIDiE. 
 
 Crown of the head always clothed with feathers, though the 
 sides of the face are often more or less bare. 
 
 Synopsis. 
 
 a. Both the outer and inner toe connected to 
 the middle toe by a basal interdigital 
 
 membrane P OL YB O BIN 'YE. 
 
 h. Outer toe only connected to middle toe by 
 an interdigital membrane. 
 a 1 . Tibia and tarsus to all intents equal in 
 length, the difference between them 
 not so great as the length of the hind 
 
 claw A CCIPITRINJE. 
 
 b l . Tibia much longer than the tarsus, 
 always exceeding it by more than 
 the length of the hind claw. 
 
 a 2 . Hinder aspect of tarsus scaled .... BUTFONINIE. 
 lr. Hinder aspect of tarsus reticulate. 
 a 3 , Commissure of bill simply 
 
 festooned A CQ UILINAE. 
 
 h 3 . Commissure of bill distinctly 
 
 toothed FA L C0NIN2E. 
 
 Subfamily POLYBORIN2E. 
 
 All the toes connected near the base by interdigital membrane ; 
 sides of the face for the most part bare. 
 
 The members of this subfamily are chiefly American, none have 
 yet been found in Australia. 
 
 Subfamily ACCIPITRIJNLE. 
 
 An interdigital membrane connects the outer to the middle toe ; 
 tibia and tarsus to all intents equal in length, the difference 
 between them not so great as the length of the hind claw. 
 
ACCIPITRINJ3. 
 
 3 
 
 Key to the Geneva . ^ 
 
 a, Lores entirely bare, as well as tlie sides of 
 the face and region of the mouth, ex- 
 tending above the eye and over the ear- 
 
 coverts POLYBOROIDES. 
 
 h. Sides of the face feathered, the lores always 
 furnished with bristles. 
 a 1 . Hinder aspect of tarsus reticulate. 
 a 2 , Nostrils oval, with no bony excres- 
 
 cence Circus, 
 
 b 2 , Nostrils round, with a bony excres- 
 cence . Micrastur. 
 
 7A Hinder aspect of the tarsus scaled. 
 
 c 2 . Eidge of bill measured from margin 
 of cere greater than half the 
 length of middle toe without 
 claw. 
 
 c 3 . Commissure slightly festooned. 
 
 <? 4 . Outer toe very short, equal to 
 two-thirds of length of the 
 inner toe (without claio ) ; thigh- 
 feathers close set, having no 
 overhanging tuft of feathers .. Geranospizias. 
 cl x . Outer toe longer than inner toe 
 without claw ; thi ghs with over- 
 hanging tuft of plumes ; tail 
 
 longer than icing Urotriorchis. 
 
 e 4 Outer toe about equal to inner 
 toe without claw ; thighs with 
 overhanging tuft of feathers. 
 aa. Nostrils with bony tubercle 
 near upper margin. 
 da x . Feathering of tarsus ex- 
 tending further down 
 than length of middle 
 toe (without claw) ; 
 tarsus scaled right 
 across, only the hinder 
 margin of the outer 
 
 aspect reticulate Erythroonema. 
 
 l)b l . Feathering of tarsus not 
 extending so far down 
 as the length of middle 
 toe; tarsus scaled in 
 front, reticulate on outer 
 
 aspect Melierax. 
 
 bb. Nostrils oval, with no bony 
 
 tubercle Astur. 
 
 d 3 . Commissure perfectly straight... Nisoides. 
 
 . Eidge of bill, measuredfrom anterior 
 margin of cere, less than half 
 middle toe without claw Accipiter. 
 
 Brit, Mus, Cat , Accip., 1874, pp, 46, 47. 
 
4 
 
 FALCOKTDiE. 
 
 1. CIRCUS. 
 
 Type. 
 
 Circus, lacep. Mem. de VInst. iii. p. 506 (1806) C. cyaneus. 
 
 Pygargus, Koch, Syst. JBaier. Zool. p. 127 (1816) C. cyaneus. 
 
 Strigiceps, Bp. Saggio Distr. Met. Anim. Yertebr. 
 
 p. 37 (1831) C. cyaneus. 
 
 Glaucopteryx, Kaup, Class. Sdug. u. Yog. p. 113 (1844) C. cineraceus 
 Spizacircus, Kaup, Mus. Senclcenb. iii. p. 258 (1845) ... C. maculosus. 
 
 Spilocircus, Kaup, Isis, 1847, p. 89 C. assimilis. 
 
 Pterocircus, Kaup, Arch. f. Naturg. xvi. p. 32 (1850) 
 
 Cf. Saunders, Ibis , 1873, p. 232 C. pygargus. 
 
 Bill moderate, elevated at the base of the culmen, and arched 
 to the tip, which is hooked, the sides compressed, the lateral 
 margins festooned, the nostrils large, oval, and partly concealed 
 by the curved hairs of the lores. Wings long, the third and fourth 
 quills nearly equal and longest. Tail long and rounded on the 
 sides. Tarsi long, slender, and compressed, the outer side covered 
 with transverse scales and the inner with small scales. Toes 
 moderate, with the outer one longer than the inner ; the claws 
 long, 'slender, and acute. 
 
 The members of this genus are distributed over most parts of 
 the world ; they usually frequent the more open parts of the 
 country — margins of lakes and swamps. Two species at least are 
 known to inhabit Australia, and to range over the whole continent, 
 with the exception of the north-western portion, where, doubtless, 
 w T hen those parts become explored, they will also be found. 
 
 1. Circus assimilis. (Jard. fy Selby.) 
 
 Jar dine s Harrier. 
 
 Circus assimilis, Jard. Selby, III. Orn. ser. 1, pi. 51 (1826) ; 
 Wall. Ibis, 1868, p. 19 ; Sharpe, Bril. Mus. Cat. Acc. i. p. 63 
 (1874). 
 
 Circus jardinii, Gould, B.Z.S. 1837, p. 141; id. Bds. Austr. i. pi. 
 27 (1848) ; id. Hand-blc. B. Austr. i. p. 60 (1865). 
 
 Spilocircus jardinii, Kaup, Isis, 1847, p. 102. 
 
 Strigiceps jardinii, Bp. Consp. i. p. 34 (1850). 
 
 Young. “ Above ashy brown, the feathers broadly margined with 
 pale tawny buff ; the head and least wing-coverts deep rusty, with 
 a few central streaks of dark brown ; sides of face and of neck, 
 as well as facial ruff, similarly coloured, but with rather broader 
 streaks of brown ; primaries black, secondaries browner, with tawny 
 buff tips ; all the quills pale ashy below on inner web, washed 
 with rufous and mottled with ashy brown near base of primaries, 
 barred with the same colour on the secondaries, the prima- 
 ries coppery -brown underneath towards their tips ; upper tail- 
 
1. CIRCUS. 
 
 5 
 
 coverts white, washed with rufous, and having dark brown centres ; 
 tail sepia-brown, tipped with tawny buff and crossed with six 
 bands of black, the subterminal one being the broadest ; under 
 surface of body pale tawny buff, inclining to white on abdomen 
 and thighs, narrowly streaked with dark brown on the breast ; the 
 under wing-coverts coloured like the latter, but with rather 
 broader streaks, the lower ones barred with ashy brown and pale 
 tawny buff ; axillaries brown, margined and notched with pale 
 tawny.” — Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat.,\ ol i. p. 63 (1874). 
 
 Progress towards maturity. The young after the second moult 
 begin to assume the plumage of the adult, the chest becoming 
 more and more washed with rufous buff ; the flanks and abdomen 
 are streaked instead of spotted with white as in the adult, and 
 the feathers of the head deep rufous chestnut, centered with a 
 broad blackish-brown stripe ; the axillaries and under wing-coverts 
 are striped, and the base of the inner webs of the primaries and 
 tail-feathers on the under surface washed with pale rufous. 
 
 Adult female. Above pale bluish slate-colour; the crown of the 
 head, cheeks, and ear-coverts broadly margined with bright deep 
 chestnut ; scapulars and wung-coverts with terminal spots of white, 
 and a row of larger spots on either side of the shaft, on the body 
 of the feather ; shoulders deep rufous chestnut ; wings bluish 
 grey ; anterior portion of primaries blackish, basal portion dark 
 brown ; secondaries narrowdy edged at the tip with white ; all 
 barred with dark brown, the subterminal bar being the broadest ; 
 wings (underneath) light ashy grey; bars more distinct on the 
 inner webs, except of the first four primaries, which are freckled 
 with brown and washed with pale rufous buff in some specimens ; 
 under primary-coverts whitish, crossed with brown bars and tinged 
 with chestnut on the margins ; upper tail-coverts deep ashy brown, 
 tipped and transversely blotched on both webs with white, inter- 
 spaces of the outer ones washed with deep chestnut ; tail ashy 
 grey, lighter on the basal margin of inner webs ; all the feathers 
 tipped with white, crossed with seven to eight blackish bands ; 
 under surface of tail lighter ; facial ruff and neck bluish grey ; 
 chest ashy grey, washed with rufous and spotted with white ; 
 remainder of under surface of the body, under wing-coverts, and 
 axillaries deep rufous chestnut, each feather with a row' of round 
 white spots on each web ; the spots are largest on the abdomen, 
 flanks, and axillaries, and smallest on the thighs ; under tail-coverts 
 ashy grey near the end, and tipped with white, the spots forming 
 oblong transverse white bars on some ; cere olive ; bill bluish 
 horn-colour at base, culmen and tip black ; tarsi olive ; iris 
 yellow. Total length, 23 inches; wing, 17i; tarsi, 3*9 ; middle 
 toe, 1*8 ; bill, from posterior margin of cere, 1*3, along the 
 culmen, 1*5. 
 
6 
 
 FALCONIDiE. 
 
 Adult male . The adult male is a little smaller in its measure- 
 ments, but the same in plumage. 
 
 Hab. This species ranges over the whole of eastern, north- 
 eastern, southern, and south-western parts of Australia. 
 
 A. 1 J ad. sk. 
 
 £. 1 $ sk. 
 
 B. 2 $ mounted 
 
 B. 3 $ mntd. 
 
 C. 1 juv. sk. 
 
 Richmond River, N.S.W. 
 King George’s Sound, W.A. 
 New South Wales. 
 
 New South Wales. 
 
 New South Wales. 
 
 2. Circus gouldii. 
 
 The Allied Harrier . 
 
 Circus assimilis, Gould , Hds. Austr. i. pi. 2G (1848). 
 
 Circus approximans, Peale , U.S. Pxpl. Expd., p. 64 (1848). 
 
 Circus gouldii, Bp. Consp. i. p. 34 (1850) ; Sharpe, Brit. Mus. 
 
 Cat. Ace. i. p. 72 (1874). 
 
 Circus wolfi, Gurney , B.Z.S . 1865, p. 823, pi. xliv. 
 
 Young. Above uniform dark sooty brown ; nape and hind neck 
 tinged mesially with deep rufous buff ; wings blackish, second- 
 aries, and some of the wing-coverts and primaries, margined with 
 light brown, shafts reddish brown ; under surface of the wing- 
 dull dark brown, basal portion of inner webs of primaries light 
 brown and washed with fulvous on the margins, small feathers 
 on under surface of shoulders tipped with deep rufous ; axil- 
 laries indistinctly lined transversely in certain lights ; rump 
 and upper tail coverts dark blackish brown — the latter margined 
 with fulvous, with the basal half buff tinged near the middle 
 pale fulvous ; tail above dark brown, blackish brown at the tips, 
 margined with buff, inner webs of nearly all the feathers mottled 
 with rufous, and showing signs of indistinct blackish bars, 
 external feathers becoming more and more strongly washed with 
 tawny rufous ; tail beneath light brown, margins of inner webs 
 washed with rufous, more extensively on external feathers, 
 tips of all dark brown, their margins washed with buff, 
 shafts whitish ; whole of under surface of body very 
 dark blackish brown tinged with chocolate in certain lights, 
 centres of feathers darkest ; flanks and abdomen washed with 
 chocolate ; thighs deep rufous ; under tail-coverts blackish brown, 
 a few tipped with fulvous ; bill blackish brown ; cere greenish 
 yellow, legs and feet greenish white. Total length 20*5 inches; 
 wing 15*3 ; tarsi 3’8, middle toe 1*55, hind toe 0 8, tail 10. 
 
 Progress towards maturity — light-coloured variety. Feathers on 
 head and neck dark brown margined with buff or light rufous, basal 
 portion of the leathers white, which shows conspicuously on nape 
 
1. CIRCUS. 
 
 7 
 
 and hind neck ; throat, chest, and facial ruff buff, each feather 
 on throat narrowly, and those of the chest and ruff broadly 
 centered with a dark brown stripe ; ear-coverts and sides of the 
 head dark brown tinged with rufous buff, a dark line down centre 
 of each feather ; lower portion of hind neck and between 
 shoulders dark brown margined wdth rufous buff ; scapulars 
 above, back, and rump blackish brown, deeper towards end 
 of each feather ; a few of the scapulars having a narrow" margin 
 of buff, and a few" of the rump feathers being tipped with rufous ; 
 upper tail-coverts white with a transverse blotch of pale rufous near 
 their tip ; exposed portions of tail feathers above ashy grey, 
 all tipped with w r hite and crossed with transverse bars of 
 blackish brown ; inner webs washed with rufous ; outer webs of 
 external feathers washed with same colour, but of a deeper tint 
 towards base ; under surface of tail feathers buff, the bars showing 
 through indistinctly ; general colour of wings above dark brown, 
 feathers on shoulders margined with deep rufous, wing-coverts 
 narrowly margined with buff ; secondaries, primaries, and pri- 
 mary-coverts ashy grey, margined narrowdy with white, their 
 inner webs tinged w r ith light rufous buff at the base, all crossed 
 with a series of transverse blackish bars — indistinct only on the 
 anterior portion of the primaries, which is of a blackish brown, 
 the terminal bars the widest, forming a subterminal blotch of 
 blackish brown ; under surface of primaries and secondaries light 
 ashy grey, having the basal portion of inner webs washed with 
 rufous buff, dark bars of the upper surface distinctly showing 
 through ; axillaries and under wing-coverts light rufous buff 
 strongly barred with deep rufous, shoulders underneath light 
 rufous buff, each feather striped with deep rufous down the 
 centre ; chest and breast buff ; abdomen, flanks, thighs, and 
 upper tail-coverts rufous buff, deepest in tint on abdomen and 
 flanks, each feather on chest and breast centered with a lanceo- 
 late stripe of dark brown, those of abdomen and flanks with 
 a broad stripe, and those of thighs and under tail-coverts with 
 a narrow" stripe of rich rufous ; bill black, cere greenish yellow ; 
 tarsi dark brown with a greenish tinge. Total length 21 inches, 
 bill 1*3 inch, along the culmen 1*45, from anterior margin of 
 nostril 075, w T ing from flexure 15*5 inches, tail 9*5, tarsi 3*8 
 inches, middle toe 1*7, hind toe 0*8. 
 
 Adult male. “ Above earthy brown ; the nape and hind neck 
 slightly streaked with buff, most of the dorsal feathers with 
 central markings of darker brown ; quills brown shaded extern- 
 ally with grey ; the secondaries narrowly tipped with fulvous, all 
 with more or less distinct remains of blackish, forming on some 
 of the secondaries a distinct subterminal spot ; upper tail- 
 coverts white, on some of them a slight spot of pale rufous ; tail 
 ashy grey, tipped with white ; the central feathers entirely grey, 
 
 B 
 
8 
 
 FALCONIDiE. 
 
 the exterior one gradually becoming more and more tawny rufous 
 near the base, with a few dark brown mottlings ; frontal and 
 superciliary feathers dull whitish, not very distinct ; sides of 
 face and of neck dull rufous brown, streaked with dark brown ; 
 facial ruff rufous buff, streaked with blackish, and mottled with 
 white ; under surface of the body creamy white, with distinct 
 streaks of pale rufous brown along the centre of the feathers, 
 broader on the under wing-coverts and very narrow on the thighs 
 and under tail-coverts ; culmen pale greenish yellow ; bill dark 
 brown, bluish at the base ; tarsi greenish white ; feet yellowish 
 buff ; iris yellow. Total length 21*5 inches, culmen 1*5, wing 
 16*25 tail, 9*8, tarsus 3*9.” JR. JB. Sharpe , Brit. Mus. Cat., vol. i. 
 p. 72, 1874. 
 
 JHJab. The whole of the eastern, southern r and south-west portion of 
 Australia; New Zealand, S.S. Islands, and New Caledonia. 
 
 A. 1 ad. mntd. 
 
 A. 2 ? ad. mntd. 
 
 A. 3 2 ad. mntd. 
 
 B. 1 sk. 
 
 B. 2 $ sk. 
 
 C. 1 juv. sk. 
 
 C. 2 2 juv. mntd. 
 
 New Zealand. 
 
 Christchurch, N.Z. 
 
 Botany N.S.W. Mr. G. Frost. Pres. 
 King George’s Sound, W. Australia. 
 K.G.S., Western Australia. 
 
 Victoria. 
 
 Botany, N.S.W. 
 
 2. ASTUR. 
 
 Type. 
 
 Astur, Lecep. Mem. dTnst. iii. p. 505 (1801) A. palumbarius 
 
 Dsedalion, Sav. JDescr. Egypte, p. 267 (1809J A. palumbarius. 
 
 Sparvius, Vieill. Analyse , p. 24 (1816) A. palumbarius. 
 
 Tachyspiza, Kaup, Class. Sdug.u. Vog. p. 116 (1844)A. soloensis. 
 
 Lophospiza, id. tom. cit. p. 118 (1844) A. trivirgatus. 
 
 Leucospiza, id. tom. cit. p. 119 (1844) A.novse-hollandise. 
 
 Scelospiza, Kaup , Isis, 1847, p. 173 A. franciscse. 
 
 Urospiza, Kaup, Mus. Senckenb. iii. p. 259 (1845). ...A. approximans. 
 Urospizias, Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. Acc. i. p. 159... A. radiatus. 
 Erythrotriorchis, Gurney (P), vide JP. Z. S., 1875, 
 
 pt. iii., p. 338 A. radiatus. 
 
 Bill short, broad at the base, with the sides gradually com- 
 pressed to the tip ; culmen elevated, much arched to the tip, 
 which is acute, and the lateral margins festooned in the middle ; 
 the nostrils large, suboval, and placed in the basal half of the 
 cere. Wings long, reaching to .the middle of the tail, with the 
 third, fourth, and fifth quills nearly equal, and longest. Tail 
 long and broad. Tarsi rather longer than the middle toe, the 
 anterior and posterior sides covered with broad transverse scales. 
 
2. astur. 
 
 9 
 
 Toes more or less lengthened, strong, and padded beneath each 
 joint ; the lateral toes unequal, the inner and hind toes equally 
 long and strong, and armed with long, strong, and curved claws. 
 
 The members of this genus range over the whole of Europe, 
 Asia, Africa, Polynesia, Australia, North America, and the 
 northern part of South America. 
 
 1. Astur cinereus. 
 
 The Grey -backed Goshawk . 
 
 Sparvius cinereus, Vieill . N. Diet, x. p. 338 (1817). 
 
 Astur rayi, Vig. Trans. Linn. Soc. xv. p. 180 (1827) ; Gray, 
 Hand-l of B. i. p. 30 (1869.) 
 
 Astur novse-hollandiae, Gould, Bds. Austr. i. pi. 14 (1848). 
 
 Leucospiza rayi, Kaup, Contr. Orn. 1850, p. 67 ; Gould, Hand-bk. 
 Bds. Austr. i. p. 37 (1865.) 
 
 Astur 2 nov. sp., Bamsay, P.Z.S., 1868, p. 381-2. Yar. 
 
 Astur cinereus, Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. Ace. i. pp. 117, 118 (1874). 
 
 Adult female. "Upper surface of body, wings, and the tail, 
 bluish ashy gray, concealed portion of the feathers of the body 
 and of the smaller scapulars w r hite barred more or less w T ith same 
 tint ; the sides of the head and ear-coverts of a lighter tint ; tips 
 of the primaries darker, very narrowly margined with white, their 
 inner webs tinged with ashy brown, obsolete bars visible in certain 
 lights on outer webs of primaries and secondaries ; central por- 
 tions of the inner webs of these feathers crossed with dark ashy- 
 grey bars ; the basal portions and inner margins (except at the tips) 
 white ; the whole of the under surface of the wing, except the 
 outer margin of the tips of the primaries past the notch (where 
 it is ashy grey), is of a pure glistening white, the bars and 
 marking of the upper surface distinctly showing through ; 
 shafts of the quills white below, dark reddish-brown above ; small 
 feathers on the margins of the shoulders, the chest, breast, 
 axillaries, and flanks white, crossed by numerous narrow lines 
 of light bluish ashy-grey ; sides of the neck barred like the chest 
 but less distinctly ; abdomen, thighs, and under tail-coverts, pure 
 white ; tail above, same as the back and wings, bluish ashy- 
 grey, the tips of the feathers narrowly margined with white ; 
 the two centre tail feathers and the outer webs of the rest 
 indistinctly, but the inner webs distinctly barred with a darker 
 tint ; the inner webs, which have a faint brownish tinge, are white 
 at the base along the margin of the inner web, the shafts brown ; 
 under surface of tail glistening white, the bars and markings of 
 the upper surface showing through distinctly on the inner webs, 
 shafts white. 
 
 Bill and claws black ; cere, base of bill, eyelids, legs and feet 
 citron yellow ; iris deep yellow. 
 
10 
 
 FALCONIDiE. 
 
 Total length 20 inches, wing 12 9, tail 9*5, tarsus 34 ; hind toe 
 12, middle toe 2T, bill from base of cere 1*3, along the culmen 1*45. 
 
 Adult male. Mr. Sharpe describes the male of this species as 
 similar to the female, but smaller, and gives the following mea- 
 surements : — “ Total length 16*5 inches, culmen 1*2, wing 10T5, 
 tail 7*8, tarsus 2*7 ; and also mentions an adult female in the 
 
 collection of the British Museum which has the “wing-coverts and 
 tail tipped with whitish, and the bars on the breast, which are a 
 little more distinct than in the specimen of the adult male he 
 describes, mixed with brown, evidently the signs of immaturity. 
 Total length 20 inches, wing 12 25, tarsus 2 95.” 
 
 “ A younger bird does not exhibit the whitish margins to the 
 wing coverts, but has the markings on the chest more elongate, 
 these, as well as the other pectoral markings, being broad and 
 distinct and brownish in colour ; iris brown.” Brit. Mus. Cat. 
 Acc. vol. i, p. 118. 
 
 Young female. Above dull ashy brown, in some slaty brown ; 
 lower part of hind neck brown ; wings ashy- or slaty -brown above, 
 white underneath, the tips of the primaries being ashy grey, 
 and the basal portion of the inner webs of secondaries and some 
 of the nearest scapulars barred with brown not quite across 
 the feathers, under primary-coverts barred with brown ; sides of 
 the head and neck dull brown, concealed portion of the feathers 
 barred ; the upper tail-coverts and tail dull ashy brown, strongly 
 barred with darker brown ; shafts reddish-brown ; under surface 
 of tail, light grey almost white, the bars showing through; the 
 whole of the under surface of the body white ; chest, a few 
 feathers on the breast, and the flanks, crossed with dull ashy 
 brown or ashy grey bands, frequently wavy, or in some broadly 
 hastate ; sides of the face and neck, throat and chest white, 
 crossed with a few narrow wavy or hastate markings of brown. 
 
 In apparently full grown but not full plumaged birds, the 
 upper surface is ashy-grey instead of brown, and the chest and 
 breast crossed with numerous wavy bracket-shaped (/-^^-\) 
 bands of light ashy brown. The tail is always strongly barred 
 in young birds. 
 
 Remarks. Both Mr. Gould (in his Hand-book to the Birds of 
 Australia , vol. i, p. 38) and Mr. B. B. Sharpe (in the British Museum 
 Catalogue , Accipitres , vol. i, p. 118) describe the male of this 
 species as being similar in plumage to the female, but smaller. I 
 can only say that during the last ten years having examined over 
 fifty specimens of A. cinereus and A. novce-liollandice , from Tas- 
 mania and all parts of Australia from Adelaide to Cape York, I 
 have never yet met with one male in any other than a snoiv ivhite 
 plumage ; in size they differ considerably, some males being 21 
 inches in length, others only 14 inches, or perhaps less. 
 
2. ASTUR. 
 
 11 
 
 A. 1 2 ad. sk. 
 
 A. 2 ? „ » 
 
 A. 3 $ „ „ 
 
 A. 4 $ „ mntd. 
 
 A. 5 2 j» sk. 
 
 B. 1 semi-ad. sk. 
 
 B. 2 „ mntd, 
 
 Gayndab, Queensland. 
 Sydney, New South Wales. 
 Wide Bay, Queensland. 
 New South Wales. 
 
 Pine Mts., Queensland. 
 
 New South Wales. 
 
 New South Wales. 
 
 2. Astur novae-liollandise. 
 
 The New Holland Goshawk, “ White Hawlc.” 
 
 New Holland White Eagle, Lath. Gen. Syn. i. p. 40 (1781). 
 
 Falco novse-hollandisD, Gm. S. N. i. p. 264 (1788 ex Lath). 
 
 Falco albus, White, Voy. N.S.W. pi. 35 (1790). 
 
 Fair Falcon, Lath. Gen . Syn. Suppl. ii. p. 54 (1801). 
 
 Falco clarus, Lath. Lnd. Orn. Suppl. ii. p. xiii (1801). 
 
 Sparvius niveus, Vieill. N. Diet. x. p. 338 (1817). 
 
 Astur novse-hollandiae, Yig. Zool. Journ. i, p. 338 (1824) ; Gould , 
 Synops. j B. Austr. pt. 3 (1838) ; Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 27 ; id. 
 Hand-l. B. i. p 29 (1869) ; Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. Ace. i. 
 p. 118 (1874.) 
 
 Astur albus, Jard. Sf Selby, III. Orn. i. p. 1. pi. 1 (c. 1830). 
 
 Dsedalion candidum, Less. Traite, p. 66, pi. 12, fig. 1 (1831). 
 
 Falco leucaetus, Forster, Descr. An. p. 70 (1844). 
 
 Leucospiza novse-hollandise, Kaup, Classif. Sduq. u. Vog. p. 119 
 (1844); Gould, HandbJc. B. Austr. i. p. 38 (1865). 
 
 Adult male. The whole of the plumage is of a pure white ; 
 cere and legs, base of bill and eyelids, yellow ; bill and claws 
 black ; iris carmine. Length 16*5 inches, wing 10*3, tail 7*5, 
 tarsus 2*85, bill IT, culmen 13, hind toe 1*, middle toe IT. 
 
 Adult female. Pure white as in the male, but much larger. 
 Total length from 18*5 inches to 20 2, wing 12 to 12*2, tail 9*2 
 to 9*5, bill 1*3, culmen 1*5, tarsus 1*2 to 1*3. 
 
 Young. Upper surface ashy brown, browner on the scapulars, 
 concealed portions of all the feathers being white ; face, sides 
 of the head and neck, ear-coverts, and lower portion of the back, 
 white, tipped and barred with ashy brown, lower part of hind 
 neck, ashy brown, tinged with pale brown ; margins of the shoul- 
 ders tipped or barred with brown ; primaries and secondaries 
 dark brown, basal portion barred not quite across with darker 
 brown, basal marginal half of inner webs white, secondary coverts 
 above white tipped and barred with brown ; wing-coverts, second- 
 aries, and some of the inner primaries margined with white at 
 the tips ; under surface of the wing pure white, the margins of 
 the primaries at the tips ashy grey, crossbars of upper surface 
 
12 
 
 FALCONIDJB. 
 
 shining through ; upper tail-coverts and rump white at the base, 
 narrowly margined, and barred with brown ; tail above ashy 
 brown, a little lighter on the inner webs, base of which is white 
 extending along the margin to near the tips ; all the feathers 
 barred with dark brown, shafts reddish brown, barred with white 
 on the centre two feathers ; outer webs narrowly margined with 
 white at the base ; under surface of tail pure glistening white, 
 the markings of the upper surface showing through ; all 
 the under surface white, throat having a narrow line down 
 centre of many of the feathers, chest and flanks with a broader 
 central line and a few transverse bracket-shaped bars of brown ; 
 bill and claws black ; base of bill, cere and legs, citron yellow ; 
 iris brownish yellow. Total length 14 inches, wing 9*5, tail 
 7T, tarsus 2*1, bill T05, culmen 1*2. — ( Mus . Dobroyde .) 
 
 A. 1 2 ad. sk. Bowral, N.S.W. Major P. L. Shepherd. 
 
 A. 2 $ ad. sk. Illawarra, N.S.W. 
 
 A. 3 J ad.sk. Nepean Biver, N.S.'W. B.G.E. Shaw, Esq. 
 
 A. 4 5 ? ad. sk. Hamilton, Tasmania. 
 
 A. 5 J ? Hobartown, Tasmania. 
 
 C. 1 sex. P juv. mntd. Cape York. 
 
 Pres. 
 
 Pres. 
 
 Subsp. a ., Astur leucosomus. 
 
 Astur novse-hollandise, Schl. Voy. Ned. Ind. p.p. 19, 58, pi. 11, 
 fig. 3 (1866, nec Gm.). 
 
 Astur novse-hollandise sub-sp. a. leucosomus. Sharpe,— Brit. Mus. 
 
 Cat. Acc. vol. i. p. 119. 
 
 Adult male. The same in plumage as Astur novce-hollandice , 
 being “ uniformly white like that species, but very much smaller ; 
 cere yellow ; bill black ; feet citron yellow ; iris orange-yellow. 
 Total length 12*3 inches, culmen IT, wing 7*8, tail 5’9, tarsus 
 2*25, middle toe 1*2. {Mus. Lugd .). Hab. New Guinea and adja- 
 cent Islands. — Brit. Mus. Cat. Acc. i. p. 119 (1874). 
 
 RemarJcs. This appears to be merely a very small variety of 
 Astur novce-hollandice , of which species there are specimens from 
 Cape York now in the Australian Museum and Dobroyde 
 collections, which differ from the one above described only a very 
 little in size. One of these specimens will be found under Astur 
 novce-hollandice “ C. 1. juv.” 
 
 Obs. Although for the present Astur cinereus , A. novce- 
 hollandice, and the subspecies A, leucosomus have been catalogued 
 separately, it does not follow that they are specifically distinct, for 
 it has by no means been satisfactorily proved that they are not 
 mere varieties of one and the same species. A knowledge of their 
 
2. ASTUR. 
 
 13 
 
 nidification, and a large series of young birds in the different stages 
 of plumage and from various localities must necessarily be 
 obtained before the matter can be decided. 
 
 3. Astur approximans. 
 
 The Australian GoshawTc. 
 
 Falco radiatus, Temm. PI. Col. i. pi. 123 (1823, nec. Lath.) 
 
 Astur radiatus, Vigors Sf Horsf. Tr. Linn. Soc. xv.,p. 181 (1827). 
 
 Astur fasciatus, iid. tom. cit. p. 181 (1827). 
 
 Astur approximans, iid. tom. cit. p. 181 (1827). Ramsay , This , 
 1866, p. 326. juv. ; Gould, B. Austr., vol. 1., pi. 17 ; id. Hand-hh. 
 B. Austr., i. p. 41 (1865) ; Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. Acc. i. p. 
 126 (1874). 
 
 Accipiter approximans, Stricicl. Ann. Nat. Hist, xi., p. 335 (1843) ; 
 Gray, Gen. of B. i. p. 29. (1849; id. Hand-l. B. i. p. 34 (1869). 
 
 Nisus approximans, Schl. Mus. P.-B. Astur es, p. 42 (1862). 
 
 Urospiza approximans, Bp. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854 p. 538. 
 
 Urospiza radiata, Kaup, Mus. SencJc. iii. p. 259 (1845). 
 
 Young. Varying from ashy brown to dark brown above, all 
 the feathers more or less edged with rufous ; sides of head, face, 
 and throat, with a dark brown stripe down centre of each feather ; 
 the basal portion of the feathers on the back of the head and 
 nape white, showing conspicuously with the brown and rufous 
 markings of those parts ; wings and tail dark brown, the inner 
 webs of the feathers pale rufous, except at the tips, all crossed 
 with numerous transverse narrow bars of blackish brown, eigh- 
 teen to twenty in number on the tail, twelve to fourteen on 
 wings ; secondaries and tail feathers tipped with fulvous or dirty 
 white ; inner webs of tail feathers between the bars, light rufous 
 above ; outer webs above, deep rufous at the base of the external 
 feathers in some ; under surface of the tail white, shining, the 
 rufous tint and bars distinctly showing through ; under surface 
 of body white or nearly so ; chest streaked with irregular shaped 
 somewhat oval blotches of dark brown — in some specimens 
 strongly tinged with rufous, many of the feathers having a con- 
 cealed transverse blotch near their centre ; breast, abdomen, 
 flanks, and under tail-coverts broadly barred with dark brown 
 or rufous bands, margined on either side with brown, and barred 
 with narrow wavy markings of a similar tint ; under surface of 
 wings white tinged with fulvous, crossed with dark brown bars ; 
 cere, and bill at base bluish lead-colour ; culmen dark bluish horn- 
 colour ; legs and feet yellowish ; iris bright yellow. Total length 
 sixteen to nineteen inches. 
 
 Progress towards maturity. The longitudinal stripes on the 
 throat, chest, and breast become transverse, the whole of the 
 
u 
 
 FALCONIM. 
 
 under surface is crossed with narrow, wavy rufous bars, margined 
 with dark brown, the whole of the upper surface of a uniform 
 brown, without any rufous margins to the feathers ; the head 
 inclines to bluish slate-colour ; few, if any, of the feathers on nape 
 or hind neck show any white ; the wings underneath become 
 more and more washed with rufous and the bars on the tail less 
 distinct. 
 
 Adult male. Above ashy brown, head, nape, shoulders, outer 
 webs of secondaries and primaries bluish grey, inner webs light 
 ashy grey, indistinctly barred with dark brown ; a band 
 across the hind neck vinous red, inclining to rufous, forming a 
 collar wider on the sides of the neck, where it is of a deeper tint ; 
 rump and upper tail-coverts ashy brown ; tail browner, indis- 
 tinctly barred with darker brown ; bars more distinct on the 
 inner webs of the feathers which are of a lighter tint, and tinged 
 with fulvous at the base of the outer ones ; under surface of the 
 tail feathers light silvery grey, bars much more distinct on all 
 except the outermost on either side ; inner webs of the first three 
 on either side washed with light rufous ; thighs rufous, barred 
 with narrow indistinct lines of white ; under tail-coverts, flanks, 
 and remainder of the under surface except the throat, deep dull 
 rufous, crossed with numerous wavy narrow bars of white, each 
 bar bounded above and below with a narrow line of ashy brown ; 
 throat whitish, mottled with numerous transverse bars of ashy 
 brown, tinged with rufous nearest the chest ; under surface of 
 primaries ashy grey, tips dark brown, washed with fulvous or light 
 rufous on basal portion, and freckled with dark brown ; concealed 
 portions of the feathers on the inner webs crossed with blackish 
 bars, interspaces near the shafts white ; secondaries light ashy 
 brown, silvery, bars nearly obsolete ; under surface of the wings 
 and the axiilaries light fulvous or nearly white, crossed with 
 numerous bars of rufous, bounded below with ashy ; behind the 
 thighs is a patch of clear rufous tinging the adjoining upper tail 
 coverts ; cere greenish yellow ; bill dark horn colour at tip, and 
 culmen, greenish olive at base ; legs and feet yellow, claws 
 black ; iris deep yellow. Total length 16' to 17*2 inches, wing 
 10'5, tail 7*5 to 8'5, tarsi 2’9to 3'1, bill 0*9 to 1 inch. 
 
 Remark. In some apparently fully adult specimens the back is 
 browner, the colour vinous red and less distinct, the under sur- 
 face of the primaries washed with a deeper tint of light rufous, 
 and the bars on quills and tail much more distinct. 
 
 Adult female. The same in plumage, but larger. Total length 
 17 5 to 20 5 inches, wing 12* to 12*3, tarsi 3 2 to 3 5, tail 9 5 
 
 to 10 5, 
 
2. ASTUR. 
 
 15 
 
 Measurements of average sized specimens. 
 
 Sex. 
 
 Total length. 
 
 Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Mid. toe. 
 
 Bill. 
 
 Female 
 
 19* inches 
 
 12T 10*5 3*5 1*6 
 
 10 
 
 Female 
 
 20* „ 
 
 120 100 3*3 1*7 
 
 IT 
 
 Male . . . 
 
 15* „ 
 
 10'5 8-2 3-0 1*5 
 
 0-9 
 
 Male... 
 
 16*5 „ 
 
 10*6 8-5 2-7 1-5 
 
 0*9 
 
 A. 1 S' 
 
 ad. sk. 
 
 Pine Mountains, Queensland. 
 
 
 A. 2 $ 
 
 ad. sk. 
 
 ISTew South Wales. 
 
 
 A. 3 $ 
 
 ad. mntd. 
 
 .New South Wales. 
 
 
 A. 4 $ 
 
 ad. mntd. 
 
 New South Wales. 
 
 
 A. 5 S 
 
 ad. mntd. 
 
 New South Wales. 
 
 
 A. 6 2 
 
 ad. mntd. 
 
 New South Wales. 
 
 
 A. 7 2 
 
 ad. sk. 
 
 Gainsford, Queensland ; A. M. Foot, Esq., Pres, 
 
 33. 1 2 
 
 semi-ad. sk. 
 
 Brisbane, Queensland. 
 
 
 B.2 2 
 
 semi-ad. sk. 
 
 Hyde, N.S.W. ; J. S. Blaxland, Esq. 
 
 Pres, 
 
 C. 1 ? 
 
 juv. sk. 
 
 Tasmania. 
 
 
 C. 2 ? 
 
 juv. mntd. 
 
 New South Wales. 
 
 
 C. 3 2 
 
 juv. sk. 
 
 New South Wales. 
 
 
 4. Astur cruentus. 
 
 The West Australian Goshaick. 
 
 Astur cruentus, Gould , P. Z. S. 1842, p. 113; id. B. of Austr., vol. 
 i, pi. 18 (1848) ; id. Hand-bk. B. of Austr. i. p. 43 (1865) ; Sharpe , 
 Brit. Mus. Cat. Ace. i. p. 127 (1874). 
 
 Accipiter cruentus, Gray , Gen. of Birds, i. p. 29 (1849) ; Bp. Consp. i. 
 p. 33. (1850). 
 
 Urospizia cruentus, Kaup, Contr. Orn., 1850, p. 65. 
 
 Urospiza cruenta, Kaup. P. Z. S., 1867, p. 176. 
 
 Adult. “ Above ashy grey, with a bluish shade, especially 
 distinct on the crown, sides of face, and wing-coverts ; nape 
 somewhat varied with white ; sides of neck dull vinous, forming 
 an imperfect collar round hind neck ; quills ashy grey, the 
 primaries blacker, externally washed with ashy, all numerously 
 barred with darker brown on the inner webs ; the lower surface 
 ashy whitish, with a pale salmon-rufous tinge on inner web ; 
 the bars by no means distinct near base ; tail ashy grey 
 above, with a slight bluish shade, slightly tipped with ashy white, 
 and crossed with fifteen or sixteen dusky bars, almost obsolete on 
 the two central feathers ; throat dull white, mottled all over with 
 ashy brown bars ; the rest of the under surface dull white, 
 crossed with numerous bars of very pale vinous, inclining to 
 grey on the lower under wing-coverts ; cere dull yellow ; bill 
 blue at the base, black at tip ; feet pale yellow, claws black ; iris 
 
16 
 
 FALCONIDiE. 
 
 bright yellow. Total length 21*5 inches, culmen 1*2, wing 
 12 5, tail 11, tarsus 3*4.” Sharpe, Cat. Brit. Mas., 1874, i. p. 
 128. 
 
 Remarks. Although I have examined a very beautiful series 
 of Astures, carefully collected at King George’s Sound, in Wes- 
 tern Australia, by our late Assistant Curator, Mr. G. Masters ; I 
 have failed to detect such differences as would warrant any of 
 them being separated into a distinct species from Astur approxi- 
 mans of Vigors and Horsfield, of which also I have examined a 
 large number of specimens from all parts of Australia. The 
 description transcribed above, taken I presume from the type 
 specimen, and the beautiful figure given in Mr. Gould’s great 
 work on the Birds of Australia, so exactly agree with several 
 adult males of A. approximams from New South Wales, now 
 before me, that I am inclined to consider Mr. Gould’s A. cruentus 
 from Western Australia, and A. approximans from New South 
 Wales, identical, or at most local varieties of the same species, 
 nevertheless, not having an adult male in fall livery from West 
 Australia, I have transcribed the above description, in case I 
 should be in error, and A. cruentus ( Gould ) yet be forthcoming. 
 
 Measurements of average sized specimens from the Western Australian 
 
 series. 
 
 Sex. 
 
 Total length. 
 
 Wing. 
 
 Tail. 
 
 Tarsus. 
 
 Bill. 
 
 $ 
 
 16*5 inch. 
 
 9*3 
 
 8-2 
 
 3-2 
 
 •85 
 
 2 
 
 17*5 „ 
 
 10-6 
 
 9-2 
 
 3-3 
 
 •9 
 
 2 
 
 16*2 „ 
 
 10- 
 
 8*3 
 
 3*25 
 
 •9 
 
 2 
 
 17*5 „ 
 
 12- 
 
 9-3 
 
 3-5 
 
 1-1 
 
 B. 1 2 
 
 semi-ad. sk. 
 
 King George’s 
 
 3 Sound, 
 
 March, 1866. 
 
 
 C. 1 $ 
 
 juv. sk. 
 
 if 
 
 ff 
 
 tt 
 
 
 C. 2 2 
 
 juv. sk. 
 
 tt 
 
 ff 
 
 a 
 
 
 C. 3 2 
 
 juv. mntd. 
 
 if 
 
 ff 
 
 ft 
 
 
 C. 4 2 
 
 juv. mntd. 
 
 fi 
 
 ff 
 
 a 
 
 
 SUBMENUS a. ERYTHROTRIORCHIS. 
 
 5. Astur radiatus. 
 
 The Radiated Goshawk. 
 
 Badiated Falcon, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. ii. p. 53, pi. 121 (1801). 
 Falco radiatus, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. ii. p. 12 (1801). 
 
 Sparvius radiatus, Vieill. N. Diet. x. p. 340 (1817). 
 
 Haliaetus caleyi, Vig. Sf Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. xv. p. 186 (1827). 
 Nisus radiatus, Less. Man. d' Orn. p. 97 (1828). 
 
2. ASTUR. 
 
 17 
 
 Astur radiatus, Gray , Ann. Nat. Hist. xi. p. 189 (1843) ; Gould , 
 JB. of Au str. i. pi. 16 (1848). id. Hand-bh. B. Austr. i. p. 441 
 (1865) ; Gray , Hand-l. of B. i. p. 29 (1869). 
 
 Accipter radiatus, Gould , Ann. Nat. Hist. xi. p. 335 (1843). 
 
 Erythrotriorchis radiatus, Lath., Sharpe, B. Z. S. 1875, pt. iii. 
 p. 338. 
 
 Astur testaceus, Kaiip, Isis, 1847, p. 367, et Contr. Orn. 1850, p. 66. 
 
 Urospizia tricolor, Bp. Bev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 538. 
 
 Urospizias radiatus, Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. Ace. i. p. 159 (1874), 
 (Buteoninje.) 
 
 Adult male. Upper surface of the body and wings (except the 
 quills) bright rufous, duller on the head, brightest on the wing- 
 coverts, shoulders, and upper tail-coverts, the feathers of the 
 head and neck* having a black stripe down the centre, all the 
 others centered with black and broadly margined with bright 
 rufous ; the upper tail-coverts are ashy at the base and barred 
 with dark brown, deepest near the tips of the feathers, which are 
 broadly margined with bright rich rufous, through which a narrow 
 black shaft line is produced from the subterminal bar. The 
 spurious-wings, primaries and secondaries, dark ashy brown, 
 darkest at the ends of the primaries, all crossed with blackish 
 brown bars, darker and broader towards the tips of the feathers, 
 the shafts light reddish brown ; the inner webs of a lighter 
 brown, becoming white at the base, where they are thickly freckled 
 and spotted with markings and broken bars of dark brown. The 
 secondaries very narrowly margined with white at the tips; 
 under, surface of primaries and secondaries ashy white ( glistening 
 ivhite in certain lights), crossed with dark ashy-brown bars, 
 becoming broken up into spots and freckles at the base of the 
 inner webs, some of which have their margins slightly tinged with 
 light rufous ; the outer series of the under wing-coverts ashy 
 white, crossed with ashy brown bars, and washed with light 
 rufous on the tips and margins, those nearest the scapulars having 
 a black shaft line, and remains of dark brown bars ; the rest of 
 the under wing-coverts rich rufous, with a black shaft-stripe 
 widening into an angular subterminal spot, and remains of 
 blackish cross-bars ; wing-coverts above dark ashy brown, the outer 
 series margined broadly on the outer, and slightly on the inner 
 webs with rufous; the remainder ashy brown at the base, blackish 
 at the tips, and broadly margined with rich rufous, deepest in tint 
 on the marginal feathers and shoulders ; throat buff tinged with 
 rufous, and having a narrow black stripe down the centre of each 
 feather; sides of the face and ear-coverts dull dark brown, narrowly 
 margined with buff, those nearest the sides of the neck tinged 
 with rufous ; the whole of the under surface of the body bright 
 deep rufous, each feather (except the axillaries, thighs, and under 
 tail-coverts) centred with a black streak, widest on the chest and 
 
18 
 
 FALCONIDiE. 
 
 breast, narrowing on the flanks, where it forms at the tips of the 
 feathers a subterminal angular spot, almost obsolete or forming 
 a narrow shaft-line only on the abdomen; tail below ashy 
 white ( t glistening in certain lights) crossed with bars of blackish 
 brown, the subterminal one broadest ; upper surface of the tail 
 dark ashy brown, crossed with (twelve or more) wavy bars of 
 blackish brown, the last deepest and broadest, the tips narrowly 
 margined with white ; inner webs of the lateral feathers almost 
 white at the base, the bars broken, and the interspaces thickly 
 mottled with dark ashy brown ; bill blackish horn colour, cere 
 yellowish, iris deep yellow, legs and feet light yellow. 
 
 Total length 20 inches, wing 14*3, tail 9, tibia* 394, tarsus* 3, 
 hind claw along the curve T35, across the curve 1T5 ; bill from 
 forehead IT inch, from gape 1*2, from nostril 07, height at 
 nostril 0 5, width 0T5 (Mus. Dobroyde.) 
 
 Adult female. Similar in plumage to the male, but a little 
 larger. Total length 22 inches, wing 15*8, tibiaf 4*34, tarsusf 
 3*3, hind claw along the curve 18, across the curve 1*4. 
 ( Aust . Mus.) 
 
 A. 1 ad. ? nmtd. New South Wales. 
 
 3. ACCIPXTER. 
 
 Type. 
 
 Accipiter, JBriss. Orn. i. p. 310 (1760) A. nisus. 
 
 Nisus, Cuv. Lemons. Anat. Comjp . i. tabl. Ois. (1799) A. nisus. 
 
 Ierax, Leach , Syst. Cat. Mamm ., Sfc., Brit. Mus. p. 
 
 10 (1816) A. nisus. 
 
 Hieraspiza, Kaup , Class. Sciug. u. Yog. p. 116 (1844)... A. virgatus. 
 Cooperastur, Bp. Bev. et Mag. de Zool. (1854) p. 538 ... A. nisus. 
 Teraspiza, Kaup . JP.Z.S. 1867, p. 171 A. virgatus. 
 
 Bill very short, with the culmen much arched to the tip, 
 which is acute ; the sides much compressed, and the lateral mar- 
 gins festooned ; the nostrils placed anteriorly in the cere, large 
 and suboval, partly concealed by the projecting hairs of the lores. 
 Wings moderate, with the fourth and fifth quills nearly equal 
 and longest. Tail long, ample, and nearly square at its end. 
 Tarsi longer than the middle toe, covered in front with nearly 
 obsolete scales. Toes more or less lengthened and padded beneath 
 
 * Measurements taken from ad. $ sk. tlie ends of the bones laid bare, 
 f Measurements taken from ad. J mounted, the ends of the bones laid bare. 
 
3. ACCIPITER. 
 
 19 
 
 the joints ; the lateral ones unequal, and the inner and hind toes 
 equal in length, and both with a strong curved claw. First joint 
 of middle toe very long. 
 
 Range. The members of this genus are found in all quarters 
 of the globe ; one species only inhabits Australia, its range 
 extends over the whole north and south eastern, southern, and 
 south-western portions of the continent. 
 
 1. Accipiter cirrhocephalus. 
 
 The Australian Sparrow Haivlc. 
 
 New Holland Sparrow Hawk, Latham , Gen. Syn. Sicppl. ii. p. 
 51 (L801). 
 
 Falco nisus, var., Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. ii. p. xi (1801). 
 
 Sparvius cirrhocephalus, Vieill. N. Dirt. x. p. 329 (1817). 
 
 Accipiter torquatus, Vig. Trans. Linn. Soc. xv. p. 182 (1827). 
 Gould , Bds. Austr. i. p. 19 (1848) ; id. Hand-hlc. D. Austr . 
 i. p. 45 (1865). 
 
 Nisus Australis, Less. Traite , p. 61 (1831). 
 
 Urospiza torquata, Kaup , Isis, 1847, p. 181. 
 
 Accipiter cirrhocephalus, Gray , Gen. D. i. p. 29 (1849) ; Sharpe r 
 Brit. Mus. Cat. Ace. vol. i. p. 141 (1874). 
 
 Accipiter melanops, StricJcl. Orn. Syn., p. Ill (1855). 
 
 Nisus cirrhocephalus, Schl. Mus. P.-B. Austeres, p. 38 (1862). 
 
 Urospizia cirrhocepkala, Kaup, P.Z.S., 1867, p. 176. 
 
 Young. Dark brown above, with the feathers more or less 
 margined with rufous ; basal portions of the feathers on the 
 nape and upper part of hind neck white, giving to those 
 parts a mottled appearance ; scapulars white at the base, 
 barred with brown ; the base of the feathers on the lower 
 part of hind neck, back, and upper tail coverts are ashy 
 brow r n ; quills of wings and tail dark brown, margined with 
 rufous at the tips, crossed w r ith blackish-brown bars, most 
 numerous on the tail ; the marginal half of the inner webs of’ 
 the wing feathers at the base ashy white, washed with pale; 
 rufous ; same parts of the tail feathers light ashy brown, tinged’, 
 with rufous on the edges ; shafts dull reddish brown ; under- 
 surface of the wings and tail ashy white, the inner margins washed 
 with pale rufous, except at the tips of primaries, which are ashy 
 brown past the notch ; all the under surface ashy white, tinged 
 with rufous on the thighs ; throat white, with a stripe of dark 
 brown down centre of each feather ; chest blotched with dark 
 brown, forming a triangular patch at the tip of each feather, 
 which is centered with rufous ; chest, breast, abdomen, flanks, 
 and thighs, crossed with numerous transverse bands of dark 
 
20 
 
 FALCONIDiE. 
 
 brown, the terminal band more conspicuously centered with 
 rufous ; the bands are narrowest and most numerous on the 
 thighs ; under tail-coverts sparingly barred with somewhat hastate 
 markings of dark brown ; bill dark horn colour ; base and cere 
 greenish ; feet and legs yellowish, greenish grey in front ; iris 
 yellow. 
 
 Remark . The young females of this species are frequently con- 
 founded with the young males of Astur approximans , which they 
 closely resemble in size and plumage. The Accipiter's long middle 
 toe , with its long first joint, its shorter and somewhat square tail , 
 which never exceeds more than 7*5 inches, will at once distin- 
 guish them. 
 
 Progress toivards maturity. The longitudinal blotches on the chest 
 widen into transverse bars, which gradually become narrower, the 
 rufous markings develope into bars, and the brown become reduced 
 into narrow conterminous lines ; the white mottlings become less 
 conspicuous on the back of the neck, and its sides tinged with 
 rich vinous red. 
 
 Adult male. Above bluish ash-colour ; head and wings slightly 
 darker ; sides of the face and ear-coverts lighter ; a distinct collar 
 of bright deep vinous red, broadest at the sides of the neck, 
 where, in some specimens, a few of the feathers are also barred 
 like those on the chest ; basal portion of the nape feathers white ; 
 scapulars with concealed white spots, the lesser ones tinged and 
 spotted in addition with vinous red near the base ; inner webs of 
 secondaries, and of the primaries as far as the notch, ashy brown, 
 all crossed with dark ashy brown bars, most conspicuous on the 
 marginal basal portion of the inner webs, which is white or slightly 
 shaded with pale rufous ; tail above bluish ash colour, inner webs 
 having an ashy brown tinge, crossed with dark ashy brown bars ; 
 under surface light ashy brown, whitish in certain lights, and the 
 dark bars showing more distinctly ; wings underneath light ashy 
 brown, whitish in certain lights ; quills distinctly barred with 
 dark brown, obsolete on outer webs ; inner webs tinged and 
 freckled with vinous red towards the base ; under surface of 
 shoulders and the under wing-coverts vary from buff to ashy 
 white, crossed with numerous narrow wavy bars of ashy brown 
 and vinous red ; throat ashy white, with indistinct transverse bars 
 of ashy brown ; under tail-coverts ashy white, with remains of 
 transverse bars of ashy brown and vinous red ; chest and 
 remainder of the under surface crossed with numerous narrow 
 bars of ashy brown, deep bright vinous red, and white — the bars 
 being broadest on the flanks and narrowest on the thighs ; bill 
 black, lead coloured at base ; cere, legs, and feet yellowish, tinged 
 with olive ; iris yellow. Total length 12 inches, wing 8 ; tail 6, 
 tarsus 2*3, middle toe 1*3, its first joint 0*6, bill 6*5, culmen 0*7. 
 
AQUILINiE. 
 
 21 
 
 A very highly coloured male in the Museum collection, from 
 King George’s Sound, has the chest and flanks and thighs of a 
 deep rich vinous red, the cross-bars almost obsolete ; the collar 
 is of a much deeper tint than usual, but interrupted on the 
 hind neck. 
 
 Adult female. Differs only in size, being a little larger and 
 perhaps not so highly coloured as the male. Total length 14 
 inches, bill 3, culmen 9, wing 9*35, tail 7, middle toe T55, its 
 first joint 0*7. 
 
 Measurements of average sized specimens from different localities. 
 
 Total 
 
 length. 
 
 Bill. 
 
 Culmen. 
 
 Wing. 
 
 Tail. 
 
 Tarsus. 
 
 Mid- 
 
 dle 
 
 toe. 
 
 Its 
 
 first 
 
 joint. 
 
 Locality, &c. 
 
 Inches. 
 9 14* 
 
 •9 
 
 •95 
 
 93 
 
 9*6 
 
 2-5 
 
 1-55 
 
 •7 
 
 K.S.G.,West Australia, ad. 
 
 S 12- 
 
 •6 
 
 •7 
 
 8-1 
 
 6* 
 
 2-35 
 
 1-3 
 
 •6 
 
 K.O.S. „ „ ad. 
 
 9 143 
 
 •8 
 
 •9 
 
 93 
 
 7*1 
 
 2-25 
 
 1*55 
 
 •7 
 
 Gayndah, Queensland, ad. 
 
 $ 12-7 
 
 •65 
 
 •8 
 
 8*2 
 
 6* 
 
 2-4 
 
 1*4 
 
 •6 
 
 Port Lincoln, South 
 Australia. ad. 
 
 9 13*5 
 
 •8 
 
 •9 
 
 9-3 
 
 7* 
 
 2-45 
 
 16 
 
 *7 
 
 K.G.S., West Australia, juv. 
 
 9 14-5 
 
 •8 
 
 •95 
 
 9-4 
 
 7* 
 
 2-6 
 
 1-65 
 
 •7 
 
 New South Wales. ad. 
 
 A 1 $ ad. sk. 
 
 A 2 2 ad. sk. 
 
 A 3 $ ad. sk. 
 
 A 4 $ ad. sk. 
 
 A 5 J ad. mntd. 
 A 6 5 ad. mntd. 
 
 C 1 5 juv. sk. 
 
 C 2 $ „ „ 
 
 C 3 $ „ „ 
 
 K. G. Sound, West Australia. 
 Gayndah, Queensland. 
 
 K. G. Sound, West Australia. 
 Port Lincoln, South Australia. 
 KS. Wales. 
 
 Sydney, N. S. Wales. 
 
 K. G. S., West Australia. 
 
 55 55 55 
 
 N. S. Wales. 
 
 K. G. S., West Australia. 
 
 Subfamily AQUILINE. 
 
 Outer toe only connected to middle toe by membrane ; tibia 
 much longer than tarsus, exceeding it by more than length of 
 hind claw ; tarsus more than half the length of tibia, and reti- 
 culate on hinder aspect ; bill festooned, but not toothed. 
 
22 
 
 FALCONIM. 
 
 Key to the Genera . 
 
 a. Nostrils hidden by stiff bristles ; chin with 
 
 a long tuft of black bristly hairs 
 
 h. Nostrils visible ; no chin tuft. 
 
 a>. Tarsi clothed with feathers all round 
 to base of toes. 
 
 a 2 . Tail strongly graduated, wedge- 
 shaped when closed, the middle 
 feathers exceeding the outer ones by 
 
 more than length of tarsus 
 
 h 2 . Tail nearly square or only moderately 
 rounded, the difference in length of 
 middle and outer tail-feathers inap- 
 preciable and less than length of 
 tarsus. 
 
 a 3 . Distance between tips of primaries 
 and tips of secondaries greater 
 than length of tarsus. 
 a x . Claws curved and powerful, the 
 outer toe with its claw exceeding 
 in length the circumference of 
 inner claw. 
 
 a 5 . No elongated crest ; ridge of 
 bill (without cere) greater than 
 inner toe (without claw) mea- 
 sured from extremity of tarsal 
 
 feathers 
 
 h 5 . No elongated occipital crest ; 
 inner toe measured as above 
 equal to circumference of cul- 
 
 men 
 
 c 5 . Crest long and wedge-shaped, 
 longer than outer toe and 
 claw ; circumference of culmen 
 decidedly less than length of 
 
 inner toe 
 
 h x . Claws nearly straight : the cir- 
 cumference of inner claw exceed- 
 ing the length of outer toe even 
 
 with its claw included 
 
 c x . Claws rounded and powerful ; the 
 circumference of inner claw 
 about equal to the length of 
 
 outer toe and claw 
 
 b 3 . Distance between tips of primaries 
 and tips of secondaries less than 
 length of tarsus. 
 
 d x . Crest-feathers sometimes fully de- 
 veloped, sometimes absent; wings 
 short, falling short of j tail by 
 more than length of crest 
 
 Gypaetus. 
 
 Uroaetus. 
 
 Aquila. 
 
 Nisaetus. 
 
 Lophoteiorchis. 
 
 Neopus. 
 
 Spiziastue. 
 
 Spizaetus. 
 
AQUILINJE. 
 
 23 
 
 e i . Crest-feathers extremely long and 
 pendent, far exceeding in length 
 the distance by which the wings 
 fall short of the tail 
 
 b l , Tarsi bare on lower portion. 
 
 c 2 . Bare part of tarsus equal to or longer 
 than middle toe without claw. 
 
 f* 3 . Nostrils with osseous margin. 
 jT 4 . Nostrils circular. 
 
 d 5 . Tarsi transversely plated in 
 
 front 
 
 e 5 . Tarsi reticulate in front 
 
 g x . Nostrils perpendicular ovals. 
 f b . Crest-feathers lanceolate in 
 shape, about equal in length 
 to middle toe with claw. 
 a 6 . Wing short, less than once and 
 
 a half the length of tail 
 
 b Q . Wing long, more than once 
 and a half the length of tail 
 g b . Crest-feathers rounded, longer 
 than middle toe with claw . . . 
 
 d 3 . Nostrils oval, with a superior mem- 
 brane 
 
 dr. Bare part of tarsus less than middle 
 toe without claw. 
 
 e 3 . Nostrils more or less perpendicular 
 ovals, with bony margin all round. 
 & 4 . Eyebrow feathered. 
 
 h 5 . Crest-feathers rounded; wing 
 exceeding tip of tail by more 
 
 than length of tarsus 
 
 i b . Crest-feathers lanceolate; wings 
 reaching nearly or quite to 
 
 tip of tail 
 
 i 4 . Eyebrow bare 
 
 f z . Nostrils circular, with bony margin 
 all round 
 
 <7 3 . Nostrils oblique, generally closed in 
 with a superior membrane, so as to 
 render the nasal opening almost 
 linear in character. 
 
 & 4 . Tail forked, outer tail-feather 
 longest. 
 
 h b . Distance between tips of pri- 
 maries and tips of secondaries 
 equal to fork of tail. 
 
 C 
 
 Lophoaetus. 
 
 Asturinula. 
 
 Herpetotheres. 
 
 Dryotriorchis. 
 
 ClRCAETUS. 
 
 Sptlornis. 
 
 Butastur. 
 
 Helotarsus. 
 
 Haliaetus. 
 
 Gypohierax, 
 
 Haliastur. 
 
24 
 
 FALCONIDJE. 
 
 c 6 . Wing extremely long, ex- 
 ceeding length of tail by 
 more than twice the length 
 
 of tarsus 
 
 cZ 6 . Wing very long, but not 
 exceeding length of tail by 
 twice length of tarsus 
 
 Z 5 . Distance between tips of prima- 
 ries and tips of secondaries 
 greater than difference be- 
 tween longest and shortest 
 tail-feather ( i . e. fork of tail). 
 e 6 . Distance from angle of mouth 
 to anterior margin of nostril 
 greater than distance from 
 latter point to tip of beak . . . 
 f 8 . Distances as above measured 
 
 equal 
 
 g 8 . Distance from angle of 
 mouth to nostril less than 
 distance from latter point 
 
 to tip of beak 
 
 Z 4 . Tail rounded, outer feather 
 shorter than middle one. 
 m 5 . Ridge of bill (without cere) 
 greater than half of middle 
 toe (without claw). 
 
 h 8 . Loral space bare 
 
 i 8 . Loral space feathered. 
 
 a 1 . Wings reaching right to 
 end of tail. 
 
 a 8 . Bare part of tarsus in 
 front greater than half 
 of middle toe (with- 
 out claw) 
 
 Z> 8 . Bare part of tarsus in 
 front less than middle 
 toe (without claw) 
 b\ Wings falling short of 
 tail by at least as much 
 as, or even more than, 
 length of tarsus. 
 c 8 . Tail not four times 
 
 length of tarsus 
 
 cl 8 . Tail very long, more 
 than five times length 
 
 of tarsus 
 
 n 5 . Ridge of bill (without cere) 
 less than half of middle toe 
 (without claw). 
 
 Elanoides. 
 
 Nauclerus. 
 
 Milvus. 
 
 Lophoictinia. 
 
 Rosthramus. 
 
 Leptodon. 
 
 Gypoictinia. 
 
 Elanus. 
 
 Gampsonyx. 
 
 Henicopernis. 
 
4. AQUILA. 
 
 25 
 
 ¥\ Bill weak and slightly 
 keeled ; loral plumes pro- 
 duced above half the nos- 
 tril Macheirhamphus. 
 
 I 6 . Bill stout; loral plumes 
 not produced beyond pos- 
 terior margin of nostril.,, Pernis. 
 
 Sharpe, Brit. Mm. Cat. Acc. vol. i. pp. 225-3 
 (1874). 
 
 4. AQUILA. 
 
 Bill strong, straight at the base, and with the apical portion 
 much curved to the tip, which is greatly hooked and acute ; the 
 sides much compressed, and the lateral margins festooned, the 
 nostrils placed in cere, large, and rather oblique. Wings length- 
 ened and acute, with the fourth and fifth quills equal and longest, 
 tail long, wedge-shaped, squarish or rounded at the end. Tarsi 
 rather longer than the middle toe, tobust, and entirely clothed to 
 the base of the toes with feathers. Toes moderate, strong, lateral 
 ones unequal, and all armed with strong, curved, acute claws, 
 the inner the strongest. 
 
 SUBG-ENUS a. UrOAETUS. 
 
 Tail strongly graduated, wedge-shaped when closed, the 
 middle feathers exceeding the outer ones by more than 
 the length of the tarsus. 
 
 Type. 
 
 Uroaetus, Kaup, Classif. Sdug. u. Vog. p. 121 (1844.) , U. (A.) audax 
 j Range. The whole of Australia and Tasmania. 
 
 1. Aquila ( Uroaetus ) audax. 
 
 The IVedged-t ailed JEagle. 
 
 Bold Vulture, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. ii. p. 10 (1801). 
 
 Vultur audax, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. p. 2 (1801). 
 
 Mountain Eagle, Collins, N.S.W., p. 526, pi. 31 (1804). 
 
 Aquila albirostris, Vieill, N. Diet, i, p. 229 (1816). 
 
 Falco fucosus, Temm. JPl. Col. i. pi. 32 (1824). 
 
 Aquila fucosa, Vig. Zool. Journ. i., p. 337 (1824) ; Gould, B. Austr. i. 
 pi. 1 (1848). 
 
 Aquila audax, Gray, Ann. N. H. xi. p. 189 (1842) ; id. Gen. B. i. p. 14 
 (1845) ; Gould, Hand-blc. B. Austr. i. p. 8 (1865). Gray, Hand-l 
 of B. i. p. 11 (1869). 
 
 Uroaetus fucosus, Kaup, Classif. Sdug. u. Vog., p. 121 (1844). 
 
 Aquila cuneicaudata, Brehm, Isis, 1845, p. 356. 
 
 Uroaetus audax, Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. Acc. i. p. 231 (1874). 
 
26 
 
 FALCONIDiE. 
 
 Adult female. Above blackish brown, all the feathers white at 
 the base ; hind neck and nape tawny chestnut ; median wing- 
 coverts ashy brown, centred with blackish"; primaries black ; 
 remainder of the quill feathers of the wings, and the tail blackish, 
 crossed near the tips with ashy brown bars, and margined with 
 brown at the tips ; the basal portion of the inner w r ebs light ash, 
 almost white in the tail feathers and mottled with wdiite in those 
 of the wings ; the feathers of the back and rump all more or less 
 tipped with fulvous brown ; upper tail-coverts light brown, 
 shaded with ashy on their margins. The whole of the under 
 surface blackish brown, each feather more or less distinctly 
 tipped or margined with light brown ; under tail-coverts buffy- 
 brown. Cere and orbits whity -brown ; bristles black ; bill pale 
 horn-brown, black at the tip and for a short distance along the 
 culmen ; feet yellowish ; claws blackish horn color ; irides hazel. 
 Total length 3 feet 6 inches, tail 17 inches, wing 25*7, bill 
 from posterior margin of cere 2*6, from anterior margin of cere 
 2'7, height from culmen to lower margin 1*2 ; tarsus d'8, 
 hind toe 2T, its claw 2*6, middle toe 3*3, its claw 1*7. 
 
 Adult male. Similar in plumage to the female, but seldom 
 quite so large ; deeper in tint of colouring, the nape, hind neck 
 and median wing-coverts being bright rufous chestnut. 
 
 Young. General colour rusty-red intermixed with dark 
 brown ; crown of the head dark -brown, each feather tipped with 
 rufous fawn-colour ; nape and hind neck rufous chestnut, lower 
 part of hind neck paler, and shaded with dark brown in the 
 centre, tipped with fulvous ; on the back and rump dark brown, 
 lighter near the tips, which are fringed with whitish down ; the 
 base of the feathers mottled with white and brown in the form 
 of broken transverse bars ; upper tail-coverts shaded with light 
 and dark brown, lateral and terminal ones of fulvous, some with 
 a subterminal spot of fulvous, and all finally fringed with whitish 
 down, and mottled with white and brown broken transverse bars 
 at the base ; tail black above, dark brown below, whitish at the 
 base of the feathers, towards the tips barred transversely with 
 light brown and tipped with fulvous ; under tail-coverts fulvous 
 tipped with down of a paler tint ; shoulders above rufous fawn- 
 colour mesially shaded with dark brown ; smallest wing-coverts 
 dark brown slightly tipped with light rufous, median coverts fawn- 
 colour, greater coverts blackish brown, indistinctly barred with 
 ashy-brown, mottled with white near the base of the feathers ; pri- 
 maries black, dark ashy brown mottled wfith white at the base ; 
 secondaries and scapulars blackish brown barred near the tips 
 with ashy-brown, which colour predominates on those nearest the 
 body, the basal interspaces on the inner webs being white ; 
 under surface of the shoulders to the angle of the wing dark 
 brown tipped with whitish, from thence to the base of the 
 
4. AQUILA. 
 
 27 
 
 primaries fulvous shaded with dark brown ; under primary coverts 
 brown, washed with ashy-brown at the base ; under surface of 
 quills dark brown, at the base washed with ashy and mottled 
 with white ; the secondaries, inner primaries, and scapulars all 
 crossed more or less distinctly with ashy-brown bars ; throat and 
 remainder of the under surface blackish brown ; feathers on 
 lower part of the neck and chest tipped with rufous fawn, the 
 remainder tipped with whitish brown, and fringed with white 
 down. In a much younger bird the whole of the feathers, 
 including the wing and tail quills are fringed with down at the 
 tips. 
 
 Nestling two months old. Covered with snow-white down ; 
 eyelids and cere bluish (?) white ; iris rich hazel ; bill black ; leg and 
 feet dull flesh colour. — ( [Mus . Dohroyde .) 
 
 Habitat. The whole continent of Australia and Tasmania. 
 
 Measurements of Specimens . 
 
 Total 
 
 length. 
 
 fcb 
 
 3 
 
 P 
 
 Tail. 
 
 Tarsus. 
 
 Bill. 
 
 Culmen. 
 
 +3 
 
 fro 
 
 22 
 hH O 
 
 Hind toe. 
 
 Its claw. 
 
 Middle 
 
 toe. 
 
 Its claw. 
 
 Ee marks. 
 
 ft. in. 
 9 3 6 
 
 in. 
 
 25* 
 
 is- 
 
 4-7 
 
 2-4 
 
 3-4 
 
 1-1 
 
 2* 
 
 24 
 
 32 
 
 16 
 
 Wide Bay, Queens- 
 
 9 2 10 
 
 20- 
 
 13* 
 
 4 3 
 
 245 
 
 3- 
 
 1*0 
 
 1-7 
 
 1-9 
 
 2-9 
 
 1*6 
 
 land. 
 
 juv. Wide Bay. 
 
 £ 3 7 
 
 25 6 
 
 17-5 
 
 45 
 
 2*6 
 
 3-5 
 
 T2 
 
 21 
 
 2*6 
 
 3-3 
 
 1-7 
 
 Ouse River, Tas- 
 
 £ 3 2 
 
 23-5 
 
 16-5 
 
 4-2 
 
 23 
 
 32 
 
 1*0 
 
 1-7 
 
 215 
 
 2-9 
 
 1-5 
 
 mania. 
 
 A. 1 $ ad. sk. 
 
 A. 2 $ „ „ 
 
 A. 3 $ ,, mntd. 
 A. 4 $ ,, 
 
 A. 5 „ „ 
 
 C. 1 ? juv. sk. 
 
 Ouse Elver, Tasmania. 
 Wide Bay, Queensland. 
 New South Wales. 
 
 New South Wales. 
 
 Ouse Eiver, Tasmania. 
 Wide Bay, Queensland. 
 
 Submenus /3. Nisaetus. 
 
 Type. 
 
 Nisaetus, Hodgs. J.A.S.B. v. p. 227 (1836) N. fasciatus. 
 
 Eutolmaetus, Blytli , J.A.S.B. xiv. p. 174 (1845) N. fasciatus. 
 
 Butaetus, Blytli , (l.c.) nec Less N. pennatus. 
 
 Hieraetus, Kaup, Mus. Senckenb. iii. p. 260 (1845) ... N. pennatus. 
 
 Tolmaetus, Blytli , J.A.S.B. xv. p. 5 (1846) N. fasciatus. 
 
 Pseudaetus, Bp. Cat. Ois. Enr. Parzud. p. 1 (1856) ... N. fasciatus. 
 Aquilastur, Brehm, Ber. Orn. Vers. Stuttg. 1860, p. 53 N. fasciatus. 
 
 Range — Africa, countries bordering the Mediterranean, India and 
 Ceylon, and Australia. 
 
28 
 
 FALCONIDiE. 
 
 2. Aquila ( Nisaetus ) morphnoides. 
 
 The Morphnoid Eagle, Little Eagle , Sfc. 
 
 Aquila morphnoides, Gould, P.Z.S., 1840, p. 161 ; Gray, Gen. of 
 B. i. p. 14 (1845) ; id. Hand-l. of B. i. p. 12 (1869). Gould, 
 B. Austr. i. pi 2 (1848). 
 
 Butaetus morphnoides, Blyth, J.A.S.B. xiv. p. 546 (1845). 
 
 Hieraetus cristatus, Blyth, J.A.S.B. xv. p. 4 (1846). 
 
 Hieraetus morphnoides, Kaup, Isis, 1847, p. 243 ; Gould, Hand - 
 bJc. B. Austr. i. p. 11 (1865). 
 
 Nisaetus morphnoides, Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. Acc. i. p. 254 (1874). 
 
 Adults. Both the male and the female vary considerably, both 
 in size and in the intensity of the colouring and tints, in some the 
 prevailing colour below being rufous brown, in others buff or white. 
 
 Adult female , ( the most usual variety). The whole of the head 
 and neck, chest, breast, and flanks, dark brown washed with 
 tawny rufous or dull rust-red, each feather with a stripe of 
 blackish brown down the centre, which stripe becomes almost 
 jet black on the crown of the head, nape, and sides of the 
 face, and extends over the tips and greater portion of each 
 feather ; abdomen and thighs rufous brown, with a narrow 
 line of blackish down the shaft of each feather ; under tail- 
 coverts dull rufous brown washed with ashy at the tips and 
 freckled with ashy brown and white (in some forming white cross- 
 bars). Primaries blackish brown, black at the tips, the inner 
 four quills ashy brown, margined with white at the tips, all 
 crossed with seven or eight blackish bands, interspaces at the base 
 ashy white ; secondaries varying from dark to light ashy brown, 
 lightest at the base of inner webs, all more or less tipped with 
 white and barred similar to the primaries ; wing-coverts of 
 various shades of light and dark brown, some washed with ashy 
 brown, indistinct obsolete bars on most of them on the concealed 
 portions, interspaces whitish ; median coverts ashy brown shaded 
 mesially with darker tint, and margined with ashy white, form- 
 ing a light-coloured and more or less broad longitudinal band 
 across the wing to the shoulder ; larger scapulars dark blackish 
 brown, the basal half of the feathers becoming lighter, barred like 
 the secondaries ; smaller scapulars and remaining coyerts lighter 
 brown shaded mesially with darker, occasionally margined with 
 ashy white, as in the median coverts ; all the wing feathers being 
 white at the base ; shoulders varying from dark to light brown, 
 the feathers all more or less margined with ashy white, the central 
 portion darker, the marginal feathers brown washed with rufous, 
 having a blackish shaft line ; under surface of the wings blackish 
 brown tinged with rufous near the body, the primaries and 
 secondaries ashy brown, lighter on the inner webs, the cross 
 bars of the upper surface showing through, the interspaces ashy 
 brown becoming white at the base, secondaries margined with 
 white at the tips, tips of the primaries blackish brown, shafts 
 brown, white at the base ; under surface of the scapulars ashy, 
 inner webs ashy white, bases white, bars indistinctly showing 
 
4. AQUILA. 
 
 29 
 
 through on the larger feathers; back and rump dark brown, shaded 
 mesially with blackish brown, feathers white at the base ; central 
 upper tail-coverts, blackish brown, lateral ones ashy brown washed 
 with rufous nearest the thighs ; terminal ones ashy brown tipped 
 with white, outer ones margined with white and occasionally 
 crossed with whitish bars ; tail above ashy brown, inner webs of a 
 duller brown, their bases white mottled with brown, all the 
 feathers crossed with seven or eight curved bars of dark brown, 
 the last the darkest, the tips margined with ashy white shafts 
 brownish, at the base white ; tail below glistenig ashy white, two 
 or three of the bars showing through near the tips ; cere lead blue ; 
 bill bluish lead at base, black at the tip ; iris reddish brown ; feet 
 lead blue. Total length 22 inches, wing 15J, tail 9J, tarsus 2f , 
 bill 1*4. 
 
 A very remarkable variety, apparently fully adult, has the 
 sides of the head and hind neck tawny rufous with a blackish 
 stripe down the centre of each feather ; the under wing- 
 coverts and basal portions of the inner webs of the primaries 
 below pure white, with a linear or lanceolate mark of brown or 
 pale rufous, on the shaft or near the tips of the feathers ; the 
 axillaries and some of the under wing-coverts have two or three 
 such marks, the terminal one being usually broadest ; sides of the 
 chest and flanks buff washed with light rufous, with a blackish 
 brown stripe down the centre of each feather ; thighs and legs to 
 the toes buff shaded with light rufous, under tail- coverts buff, 
 abdomen white ; the inner primaries above the secondaries and 
 feathers of the longitudinal band across the wing, are largely 
 margined with whitish ash.* {Mus. JDobroyde.) 
 
 Adult male . In plumage similar to the females, but in size 
 much smaller, they are usually darker in colour, and the abdomen, 
 flanks, and thighs of a more uniform tint of rufous, the shaft 
 lines always darker.* 
 
 j Habitat. Eastern Australia, Queensland as far inland as 
 Bourke, and "Western Australia ; in all probability its range will 
 be found to extend over the whole continent of Australia. 
 
 A 1 2 ad.sk. K. G. Sound, West Australia. 
 
 A 2 $ ad. sk. K. G. Sound, West Australia. 
 
 * Measurement of Adults. 
 
 Total 
 
 Length. 
 
 WiDg. 
 
 Tail. 
 
 Tarsus. 
 
 Bill. 
 
 Culmen.j 
 
 Mid 
 
 Toe. 
 
 Hind 
 
 Toe. 
 
 Remarks, &c. 
 
 Inches. 
 9 21*5 
 
 15*5 
 
 9-5 
 
 2-8 
 
 1*4 
 
 1*7 
 
 2-0 
 
 1-3 
 
 K.G.S., West Australia. 
 
 9 21*0 
 
 15*2 
 
 8-5 
 
 2-6 
 
 1-45 
 
 1*7 
 
 21 
 
 1*3 
 
 Barkoo R., N.S. Wales. Mus. 
 Dobroyde. Very light 
 plumage. 
 
 K.G.S., West Australia. 
 
 £ 17*5 
 
 13*7 
 
 8-0 
 
 22 
 
 1*2 
 
 1-5 
 
 1*7 
 
 1-0. 
 
 £ 162 
 
 130 
 
 8-0 
 
 21 
 
 11 
 
 1*4 
 
 1-5 
 
 10 
 
 Shot nr. Sydney., KS.W. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mus. Dobroyde. 
 
30 
 
 FALCONIDJS* 
 
 5. HALIAETUS. 
 
 Type. 
 
 Haliaetus, Savign. Syst. Ois. d’Egypte, p. 254 (1809) H. albicillus. 
 
 Cuncuma, Hodgs. J. A . S. B. vi. p. 367 (1837) H. leucoryplius. 
 
 Pontoaetus, Kemp , Classif. Sang. u. Vog. p. 122 (1844) H. leucogaster. 
 
 Thalassoaetus, Kaup , t. c. p. 123 H. pelagicus. 
 
 Blagrus, Blytli , Cat. B. Mas. A. S. B. p. 30 (1849)... H. leucogaster. 
 
 Pontoaetus, Kaup , Mus. Senclc. iii. p. 261 (1845) H. leucogaster. 
 
 Bill large, culmen straight at the base and curved to the tip, 
 which is hooked and acute, the sides compressed, the lateral 
 margins slightly festooned, and the lores naked ; nostrils 
 moderate, narrow, oval, and oblique ; wings lengthened and acute, 
 with the third, fourth, and fifth quills nearly equal and longest ; 
 tail moderate and somewhat rounded ; tarsi short, strong, 
 covered in front with transverse narrow scales, and with irregularly 
 placed ones posteriorly, and on the sides ; toes long, mostly 
 covered above with transverse scales, the claws long, curved, 
 acute, and strong. 
 
 Bange. Members of this genus are found to range over the 
 whole of Europe, Asia, Africa, Southern India, and Eastern 
 Peninsula, Oceania, Australia, and North America. 
 
 1. Haliaetus leucogaster. 
 
 The great fishing Eagle , Sea Eagle , Sfc. 
 
 White-bellied Eagle, Lath. Gen. Syn. i. p. 33 (1781). 
 
 Falco leucogaster, Gm. S. N. I. p. 257 (1788 ex Lath ) ; Temm. 
 
 El. Col. i. pi. 49 (1823). 
 
 Le Blagre, Levaill. Ois. d' Afr. i. pi. 5 (1797). 
 
 Falco blagrus, Baud. Traite , ii. p. 70 (1800 ex Levaill). 
 
 Haliaetus blagrus, Cuv. Begne An. i. p. 316 (1817) ; Bp. Consp. 
 i. p. 15 (1850). 
 
 Falco dimidiatus, Baffl . Tr. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 277 (1822). 
 
 Pandion blagrus, Bonn, et Vieill. Enc. Meth , iii. p. 1200 (1823). 
 Haliaetus leucogaster, Vig. Zool. Journ. i. p. 336 (1824) ; Gould , 
 Syn. Bds. Austr. pt. 3, pi. 37. fig 1 (1838) ; Sharpe , Brit. Mus. 
 Cat. Acc. vol. i. p. 307 (1874) ; Jerd. B. Ind. i. p. 85 (1862) ; 
 Einsch u. JETartlb. Faun. Centralpolyn. p. i. (1867) Gray , Hand-l. 
 of B. i. p. 17 (1869) ; Schl. Mus. B.-B. Bevue Accipitr. p. 117 
 (1873). 
 
 Haliaetus dimidiatus, Vig. Mem. Baffl. p. 648 (1830); Gray , 
 Gen. B. i. p. 17 (1845) ; Striclcl. Orn. Syn. p. 54 (1855). 
 Haliaetus sphenurus, Gould. E. Z. S. 1837, pp. 97, 138 ; id. 
 
 Syn. B. Austr. pt. 3, pi. 37, fig. 2 (1838). 
 
 Ichthyaetus cultrunguis, Blytli , J. A. S. B. xi, p. 110 (1842). 
 Ichthyaetus leucogaster, Gray, Cat. Acciptr. 1844, p. 13 ; Gould , 
 B. Austr. i. pi. 3 (1848) ; Biggies. Orn. Austr. pt. 5 (1866). 
 Pontoaetus leucogaster, Gray , Gen. B. i. p. 18 (1845). 
 
5. HALIAETUS. 
 
 31 
 
 Pontoaetus blagrus, Gray , Gen . _Z?. i. p. 18 (1845). 
 
 Cuncuma leucogaster, Gray , Accipitr. 1848, p. 24 ; Wall, Ibis, 
 
 1868, p. 15; Wald. Tr. Z. S. viii. p. 35 (1872). 
 
 Blagrus leucogaster, Blyth , Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 30 (1849). 
 
 Ichthyaetus blagrus, Blytli, J . A. S. B. xi. p. 116 (1849). 
 
 Polioaetus leucogaster, Gould, Hand-bJc. B. Austr. i. p. 13 (1863). 
 
 Young. Brown above all the feathers, margined at the 
 tips with lighter brown, shafts dull brown, the nape and hind 
 neck sometimes tinged with tawny, back and rump of a darker 
 dull brown, the feathers tipped with whitish-brown ; wings 
 dark brown, feathers margined at the tips with whitish-brown ; 
 shoulders and smaller wing-coverts margined with whitish ; 
 primaries dull brown, blackish brown at the tips, white 
 freckled with dark brown at the base, especially on the inner 
 webs ; secondaries becoming whitish at the base, more exten- 
 sively on the inner webs, and freckled with brown ; head and neck 
 dull brown, sometimes tinged with tawny, streaked with brownish 
 white down the centre of each feather, shafts blackish ; throat 
 buff; under surface rufous-brown, each feather centred with a 
 streak of buff, and tipped with buffy white ; flanks, abdomen, 
 and under tail-coverts buff, freckled with brown ; legs brown 
 with a broad shaft stripe of deep buff ; axillaries and under wing- 
 coverts buff ; base of the primaries and their coverts white, 
 freckled with brown ; under surface of shoulders dull brown, 
 margined with deep buff ; tail beneath white freckled with dark 
 brown and tipped with white ; above white, freckled with brown 
 and becoming darker brown near the ends, which are margined 
 and tipped with white, base white ; upper tail-coverts similarly 
 marked to the tail, but of a lighter brown. 
 
 Progress towards maturity. The throat, abdomen, flanks, and 
 under tail-coverts become white first ; the chest retaining its 
 brown markings until about the third year, when a broad central 
 line of white, with a brown or black hair line down the shaft, 
 appears ; the white and brown markings of the body above grow 
 out and change to ashy-grey, which increases and becomes darker 
 in tint each year until the basal portion of the tail and the tips of 
 the primaries past the notch become in the adult almost black ; 
 the brown on the terminal third of the tail becomes freckled, and 
 lastly white, like the head and neck ; in some apparently adult 
 birds there is a hair line of black or brown down the shaft of 
 many feathers on the chest, head, and neck. 
 
 Adult female. The whole of the head and neck, and all the 
 under surface of the body and under wing-coverts white, feome of 
 the lateral wing-coverts shaded w T ith ashy grey on the outer 
 webs, the greater coverts, ashy grey becoming white at the base* 
 
32 
 
 FALCONTDJE. 
 
 and shaded with white along the margins and at the tips ; re- 
 mainder of the under surface of the wings ashy grey, the pri- 
 maries shaded with a blackish tinge towards the tips, and the 
 secondaries shaded with white at the tips ; tail ashy black towards 
 the base, the terminal third being white ; the inner webs on the 
 under surface mottled with white, and the extreme base white ; 
 under tail-coverts white, concealing the ashy black basal portion ; 
 the upper surface of the body and wings ashy grey ; the tips of 
 the primaries blackish, and upper tail-coverts dark ashy grey ; 
 the basal portion of the tail above ashy black ; the secondaries 
 slightly margined at the tips with ashy white ; iris yellowish 
 brown ; cere, lores, and base of the bill, lead-colour, culmen 
 greenish brown ; feet yellowish ; claws black. Total length 30 
 inches, wing 23‘8, tail 11*7, tarsus 4T, bill 2*4, culmen 3*0, 
 middle toe 30, hind toe 1*6. 
 
 Adult male. Is the same in plumage, but slightly smaller in 
 size. Total length, 28'5 inches, wing 22*3, tail 10’5, tarsus 
 4*0, bill 2*0, culmen 2*6, middle toe 2*9, hind toe T6. 
 
 Measurements of Adults and Young. 
 
 Sex 
 
 and total 
 length. 
 
 Wing. 
 
 Tail. 
 
 Tarsns. 
 
 Bill. 
 
 Culmen. 
 
 Mid. 
 
 Toe. 
 
 Hind 
 
 Toe. 
 
 Locality, &c. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 & 27-5 
 
 23- 
 
 10 T> 
 
 4-0 
 
 2. 
 
 2-6 
 
 2*9 
 
 1*6 
 
 Gayndah, Burnet River, 
 Queensland. Adult. 
 
 9 30* 
 
 23-8 
 
 11*7 
 
 41 
 
 2*4 
 
 30 
 
 3-0 
 
 1-6 
 
 Port Macquarie, N.S.W. 
 Adult. 
 
 $ 26-5 
 
 22*7 
 
 10-6 | 
 
 3^9 
 
 2-0 
 
 2*6 
 
 2-8 
 
 1-6 
 
 1ST. S. Wales. Adult. 
 
 $ 28*5 
 
 223 
 
 11*2 
 
 3-7 
 
 21 
 
 2-6 
 
 2*5 
 
 1*6 
 
 Adult. Wide Bay, Queens- 
 land. 
 
 $ 28-3 
 
 23’5 
 
 13-0 
 
 3-8 
 
 215 
 
 2*6 
 
 2*7 
 
 16 
 
 Young in half plumage. 
 N.S.W. 
 
 ? 28-7 
 
 22-7 
 
 11*6 
 
 4- 
 
 2:1 
 
 2-7 
 
 2 9 
 
 1-7 
 
 Young. Wide Bay, Queens- 
 land. 
 
 9 30-3 
 
 23-6 
 
 12-3 
 
 4- 
 
 21 
 
 2-6 
 
 2-8 
 
 1*6 
 
 Young. Port Macquarie, 
 N. S. Wales. 
 
 A. 1 S ad. sk. 
 
 A. 2 $ ad. sk. 
 
 A. 3 0 ad. mntd. 
 
 A. 4 S ad. mntd. 
 
 B. 1 semi-adult, sk. 
 
 B. 2 $ semi-adult. 
 
 B. 3 ? semi-adult, mtd. 
 
 Burnett Eiver, Queensland, 
 Wide Bay, Queensland. 
 Port Macquarie, N. S. W. 
 New South Wales. 
 
 Wide Bay, Queensland. 
 Port Macquarie, N. S. W. 
 Pt. Macquarie, N. S. W. 
 
6. HALIASTUK. 
 
 83 
 
 6. HALIASTUR. 
 
 Type. 
 
 Haliastur, Selby , Cat. Gen. et Subgen. Typ. p. 3, 1840... H. indus. 
 Dentiger, Hodgs. in Gray s Zool. Misc . p. 81, 1844 ... H. indus. 
 
 Ictinoaetus, Kaup. Contr. Orn. 1850, p. 73 H. indus. 
 
 Milvaquila, Burm. Verz. Zool. Mus. Halle, p. 24, 1850 H. indus. 
 
 Birds of smaller build, but characters similar to Haliaetus, 
 nostrils almost circular, having a bony margin all round ; tarsi 
 are covered with large transverse oblique scales, and with 
 irregular hexagonical scales posteriorly, the sides covered with 
 smaller ones. 
 
 Range . — Indian Peninsula and Ceylon, the Malayan Archi- 
 pelago, and the whole of Australia and New Caledonia. 
 
 1. Haliastur Indus. 
 
 Subsp. £ — Haliastur girrenera. 
 
 The Red-baclced Fish-hawk. 
 
 Falco ponticerianus, Shaw fy Nodd. Nat. Misc. x. pi. 389, (1799). 
 
 White-headed Rufous Eagle, Lath. Gen. Hist. i. p. 218, (1821). 
 
 Haliaetus girrenera, Vieill. Sf Oud. Gal. Ois. i. pi. x. (1825). 
 
 Haliaetus leucosternus, Gould , P. Z. S., 1837, p. 138; id. Syn. 
 B. Austr. iii. pi. 3 fig. 1 (1838). 
 
 Haliastur leucosternus, Gray Gen. B. i. p. 18 (1845) ; Gould B. 
 Aust.i. pi. 4 (c. 1845); id. Hand-book B. Austr. i, p. 17 (1865) ; 
 Biggies, Orn. Aust. p. 17 (1870); Walden, Tr. Z. S. viii. p. 35 
 (1872) ; Gray , Hand-l. B. i. p. 18 (1869). 
 
 Ictinoaetus leucosternus, Kaup, Contr. Orn. 1850, p. 73. 
 
 Haliaetus indus, Schl. Vog. Nederl. Ind. Yalkv. p. 51, pi. 4, fig. 3 
 (1866). 
 
 Haliastur indus, Subsp. 0. H. girrenera, Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. 
 Acc. vol. i, p. 315 (1874). 
 
 Young. — Head and neck dull creamy white, washed with brown 
 at the base and along the margins of the feathers, giving to these 
 parts a striped appearance ; face brown ; throat and chest 
 whitish ; breast light rufous brown, streaked with ashy white 
 down the centre of each feather ; abdomen, thighs, and under 
 tail-coverts dull white, margined with light rufous brown ; 
 primaries blackish brown, secondaries washed with rufous, 
 becoming white at the tips ; tail rufous brown, tipped with 
 whitish. 
 
 Adult female. Similar to the male, but slightly larger. Total 
 length 21 inches, wing 155, tarsus 2*3, tail 8'6. 
 
 Adult male. The whole of the head, neck, chest, and breast 
 snowy white, the tips of the primaries above past the notch 
 black, below black, shaded in certain lights with brown along 
 the shaft, which is white at the base ; tips of the tail above white, 
 
34 
 
 FALCONIDiE. 
 
 which extends more over the centre two and adjacent feathers, 
 the outer two on either side with no white, the next to them 
 with only a wash white round the margin of the tips, under sur- 
 face of the tail, except the afore-mentioned white tipped portions 
 light cinnamon red ; the secondaries and base of the primaries 
 rich cinnamon red ; the remainder of the upper and under sur- 
 face bright, rich, deep chestnut (or deep maroon chestnut) ; cere, 
 legs, and feet yellow ; bill light horn colour, bluish lead-colour 
 at the base. Total length 18*5 inches, wing 15 3, tail 7*7, tarsus 
 2 inches. 
 
 Habitat. The whole of the northern portion of Australia, and 
 the eastern as far south as the Clarence River, extending inland 
 about to the coast range. 
 
 Remark. In some specimens the primary coverts above, nearest 
 the margin of the shoulders have a black shaft stripe and remains 
 of black cross bars, the latter also are noticeable on the inner 
 webs of some of the inner primaries and inner secondaries, and 
 on the tail feathers. The plumes covering the flanks, and the 
 feathers at the upper joint of the thighs also, are occasionally 
 white, as well as the small feathers at the base of the scapulars ; 
 the smaller scapulars have occasionally black shaft lines and also 
 transverse bars of black on their concealed portions, basal por- 
 tions white. These facts will assist in bearing out Mr. Sharpe’s 
 opinion, with which I entirely coincide, that the Australian bird 
 (Haliastur girrenera) cannot be admitted to hold full specific 
 rank, but with Haliastur intermedins (Gurney) must be con- 
 sidered a fixed variety of the Indian fish hawk (. Haliastur indus ). 
 
 Measurements of Adults. 
 
 Sex, and 
 total 
 length. 
 
 Wing. 
 
 Tail. 
 
 Tarsus. 
 
 Bill. 
 
 Culmen. 
 
 Mid. 
 
 toe. 
 
 Hind 
 
 toe. 
 
 Locality, &c. 
 
 Inches 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 $ 18- 
 
 156 
 
 8* 
 
 2- 
 
 1-4 
 
 1*7 
 
 1*4 
 
 •8 
 
 Port Denison, Queens- 
 land. 
 
 $ 17*5 
 
 156 
 
 8- 
 
 2‘ 
 
 1-4 
 
 1-7 
 
 1-35 
 
 •9 
 
 
 9 19-5 
 
 15-6 
 
 9- 
 
 21 
 
 145 
 
 1*7 
 
 1*5 
 
 •9 
 
 >5 » 
 
 9 195 
 
 16* 
 
 9- 
 
 21 
 
 1-5 
 
 1-8 
 
 14 
 
 1 nr 
 
 
 A I $ ad. sk. Port Denison, Queensland. 
 A 2 $ ad. mntd. „ „ 
 
 A 3 $ ad. mntd. ,, ,, 
 
 A 4 ad. mntd. „ ,, 
 
6. HALIASTUR. 
 
 35 
 
 2. Haiiastur sphenurus. 
 
 Brown Fish-Hawk , Whistling Fagle. 
 
 Cinereous Eagle, var., Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp. p. 18 (1801). 
 
 Milvus sphenurus, Vieill. N., Diet. cV Hist. Nat. xx. p. 564 (1818) ; 
 id. et Oud. Gal. Ois. i. pi. xv. (1825). 
 
 Haliaetus canorus, Vig . Sf Horsf. Tr. Linn. Soc. xv. p. 187 
 (1826) ; Gould , Syn. B. Aust. pt. iii. pi. 3. fig. 2 (1838). 
 
 Haiiastur splienurus, Gray , Gen. B. i. p. 18 (1845) ; Gould , B. 
 Austr. i. pi. 5 (c. 1845) ; id. Hand-hJc. B. Austr. i. p. 20 (1865) ; 
 Sharpe , Brit. Mus. Cat . Ace. i. p. 316 (1874). 
 
 Ictinoaetus canorus, Kaup , Contr. Orn. 1850, p. 73. 
 
 Haliaetus splienurus, Sehl. Mus. B. — B. Aquilae, p. 21 (1862). 
 
 j Remarks. The following description of what appears to me to 
 be a fully adult but not a very old bird, will be found to agree 
 with the stage of plumage in which full grown birds of this 
 .species are usually obtained. 
 
 Adult female. General colour dull ashy brown, shaded with 
 fulvous and dark brown ; primaries blackish ; the whole of the 
 head and neck dull brown tinged with rufous, chiefly down the 
 centre of the feathers, with the shafts black, giving a streaked 
 appearance ; sides of the face and throat light brown, the bases 
 of the feathers darker ; chest, breast, and abdomen dull fulvous 
 brown, with blotches of dull white or fulvous near the centre of 
 feathers on either side of the shaft, and a stripe of dull white down 
 the tip which is sometimes washed with fulvous ; on those parts 
 nearest the abdomen the stripes are narrower and the blotches 
 larger and more conspicuous ; flanks fulvous brown, bases of the 
 feathers white ; thighs dull fulvous with a dark browm shaft- stripe, 
 and irregular cross-bars ; under tail-coverts fulvous crossed with 
 irregular broken bars of dull deep brown ; tail below ashy brown, 
 washed with fulvous on the inner webs and freckled with dark 
 brown ; tail above dark brown washed with ashy on the outer 
 margins and tips, and freckled with light rufous at the base ; 
 inner webs fulvous, shaded at the tips and thickly freckled and 
 crossed with irregular broken bars of dark brown on the body 
 of the feathers ; upper tail-coverts, rump, and back, dull brown, the 
 feathers white at the base ; margins of the shoulders and the under 
 wing-coverts white at the base, becoming ashy-brown, crossed with 
 dark brown bars, and largely tipped with deep fulvous ; shaft-stripe 
 black ; primaries above black, the outer and the inner webs near the 
 base rich sepia brown. The basal marginal half of the inner two pri- 
 maries and outer two secondaries light rufous barred with dark 
 brow T n ; remainder of the feathers dark brown, lighter at the tip, 
 outer web sepia brown ; secondaries deep sepia brown, with rich 
 metallic lustre, inner webs from near the tips light rufous barred 
 
36 
 
 FALCONIDiE. 
 
 and freckled with dark brown ; median and primary coverts simi- 
 larly coloured, remainder of the upper wing-coverts dark brown, 
 some on the shoulders washed with pale rufous, all margined or tip- 
 ped with ashy white, fulvous, or light rufous, and having a brownish 
 black shaft-stripe ; scapulars deep sepia-brown, smaller ones mar- 
 gined and tipped with ashy-brown, all washed, freckled or barred 
 with pale rufous, which predominates on the concealed portion of 
 the feathers, where also the brown forms irregular bars ; extreme 
 base, white ; under surface of the wing quills are ashy-brown, 
 all, except the outer primaries which are whitish at the extreme 
 base, more or less freckled or barred with light rufous ; cere 
 bluish grey ; bill dark horn brown, lighter on the sides ; feet and 
 legs bluish grey ; iris, rich hazel. 
 
 Total length 22 inches, wing 169, tail 10*7 ; tarsus 2*3, bill 1*5, 
 culmen 1*8, culmen without cere 1*35. * 
 
 Adult male. Similar in plumage to the female, but not so large 
 Total length 20*5 inches, wing 155, tail 10’5, tarsus 2*25, 
 bill 1*3, culmen 1*6, without cere 1*3. 
 
 Young. Similar to the above description, but having the wing- 
 coverts and most of the feathers of the upper surface tipped 
 largely with ashy or fulvous white, a well defined blackish shaft- 
 line on all the feathers, and those of the head and neck washed 
 with rufous ; on the back of the neck the feathers are crossed 
 with irregular dark brown bars, the bases of all being white ; 
 the under surface is of a lighter dull fulvous-brown, blotched and 
 striped with fulvous white. 
 
 Habitat. The whole continent of Australia, and New Caledonia. 
 
 Specimens from New Caledonia are often of a much lighter 
 colour, especially on the upper portion of the head, neck, and 
 scapulars. 
 
 A. 1 ? ad. sk. 
 
 A. 2 S' ad. sk. 
 
 A. 3 J ad. mntd. 
 
 A. 4 ad. mntd. 
 
 B. 1 ? semi- ad. sk. 
 
 New South Wales. 
 Wide Bay, Queensland. 
 New South Wales. 
 
 New Caledonia. 
 
 King George’s Sound. 
 
 * Note. — Not having met with any specimen in such adult plumage as that 
 described and figured by Mr. Gould, whose description has evidently been 
 taken from a very old bird, I transcribe it here verbatim : — “ Head, neck, and 
 all the under surface light sandy brown, each feather margined with a darker 
 colour ; feathers of the back and wings brown, margined with grayish white ; 
 primaries blackish, brown ; tail greyish brown, rather long and rounded at 
 the end ; cere and bill brownish white, gradually becoming darker towards the 
 tip ; legs bluish white ; irides hazel.” (Gould, Bds. Aust., vol. i, pi. 5.) 
 
7. milvus. 37 
 
 7. MILVUS. 
 
 Type. 
 
 Milvus, Cuv. Leg. Anat. Comp. i. tabl. Ois. (1800) M. regalis. 
 
 Hydroictinia, Kaup , Classif. Sdug.v. Vdg.ip. 115 (1844) M. migrans. 
 
 (M. tcorschun.) 
 
 Bill laterally compressed, the culmen straight at the base, from 
 thence much curved to the tip which is acute, the lateral margins 
 somewhat straight or only slightly curved, the nostrils oval, placed 
 rather obliquely in the cere ; wings very long, the third and fourth 
 quills longest ; tail long, broad, rounded or more or less forked 
 at the end; tarsi short, plumed at the base anteriorly, the 
 remaining part covered with scales transverse in front reticu- 
 late behind ; toes rather short, the outer united at its base to the 
 middle toe, claws comparatively short and curved. 
 
 1. Milvus affinis. 
 
 The Australian Kite. 
 
 Milvus affinis, Gould, JP. Z. S. 1837, p. 140 ; id. Syn. B. Austr. 
 pt. iii. (1838) ; id. B. Austr. i. pi. 21 (1848) ; id. Hand-btc. B. 
 Austr. i. p. 49 (1865); Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 24 (1845); id. Hand-1. 
 B. i. p. 27 (1869) ; Wald. Tr. Z. S. viii. p. 36 (1871) ; Bp. 
 Consp. i. p. 21 (1850) ; Schl. Mus. B. — B. Milvi, p. 3 (1862) ; 
 id. Yog. Nederl. Ind. Valkv. pp. 30, 67, pi. 20 fig. 1 (1866) ; 
 Biggl. Orn. Austr. pt. 1 (1866) ; Wall, Ibis, 1868, p. 13 ; 
 Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. Ace. i. p. 323 (1874). 
 
 Adult male. All the upper surface blackish brown, the median 
 wing-coverts and margins of the feathers being lighter, the shaft- 
 stripes blackish ; primaries and secondaries blackish brown, the 
 first six primaries black at the tips, the remainder and the inner 
 secondaries slightly margined with light brown, indistinct bars of 
 blackish brown showing on the inner webs of all the quills ; the 
 inner webs of the outer series of the wing-coverts, of a few of the 
 innermost secondaries, and of the scapulars, becoming white at 
 the base and barred with dark brown ; wing-coverts brown barred 
 with blackish brown, base of the feathers white ; back, rump, and 
 upper tail- coverts dark brown fading into a little lighter brown 
 on the margins, the bases white, shaft-stripes blackish brown ; 
 tail slightly forked, dark brown above indistinctly barred with 
 blackish, the inner webs becoming lighter towards the base, and 
 freckled with dark brown ; under surface of the tail ashy brown 
 freckled and barred with darker brown ; under tail-coverts rufous 
 brown, with blackish shaft-lines ; the head and neck above brown 
 washed with rufous and streaked with blackish shaft-lines ; lores 
 and ear-coverts dark brown, the latter tinged with rufous brown ; 
 chin whitish ; the throat light rufous brown, remainder of the 
 under surface of the body dull rufous brown darker on the chest, 
 sides, and flanks, all the feathers having a blackish shaft-line ; 
 under wing-coverts rufous brown striped with blackish down the 
 
38 
 
 FALCONTDiE. 
 
 centre, the outer series, and the bases of the primaries ashy, 
 irregularly shaded or barred with dark brown ; quills blackish 
 brown the inner webs especially, towards the base lighter ; bill 
 black ; base and cere yellowish ; feet and legs yellowish ; iris 
 hazel. ( Mus . Dohroyde .) 
 
 Total length 19*5 inches, wing 15*8, tail {to tip of outer 
 feathers) 10, tarsus 2 1, middle toe . (without claw) 1*6, inner 
 toe 0*9, outer 1*15. 
 
 Adult female. Similar to the male in size and coloration. 
 
 Young. The young may be distinguished by all the feathers 
 being tipped with rufous, the head and neck rufous margined 
 with brown and striped with blackish shaft-lines ; under surface 
 brown striped with rufous down the centre of the feathers, shaft- 
 lines blackish, throat and sides of the face rufous brown, lores, 
 region of the eye, and upper portion of the ear-coverts blackish. 
 
 B. 1 Semi-adult. New South Wales. 
 
 8. LOPHOICTINIA. 
 
 Lophoictinia, Kaup, Isis , 1847, p. 117 
 
 Type. 
 
 L. isura. 
 
 Characters chiefly as in Milvus , but differing in having the bill 
 more compressed towards the tip and longer ; distance between 
 angle of mouth and anterior margin of nostril equal to the 
 distance from thence to tip of bill ; no transverse scales on the 
 tarsi in front ; wings very long. 
 
 'Range of habitat , Eastern, South, and South-west Australia. 
 
 1. Lophoictinia isura. 
 
 The Crested Kite , Square-tailed Kite , Sfc. 
 
 Milvus isurus, Could , P. Z. $., 1837, p. 140; id. Syn. R. Austr. 
 iii. (1838) ; id. B. Austr. i. pi. 22 (1848); id. Hand-bk. B. Austr. 
 i. p. 51 (1865). Cray , Cen. B, i. p. 24 (1845) ; Bp. Consp. i. 
 p. 21 (1850) ; Schl. Mus. P.-B. Milvi, p. 4 (1862). Cray , 
 Hand-l. B. i. p. 27 (1869). 
 
 Lophoictinia isura, Kaup , Isis , 1874, p. 117 ; Sharpe , Brit. Mus. 
 Cat. Acc., vol. i. p. 326 (1874). 
 
 Milvus pacificus, Strickl. Orn. Syn. p. 135 (1855). 
 
 Adult female. The feathers of head and nape elongated into an 
 occipital crest ; forehead whitish buff ; sides of the face, chin, and 
 ear-coverts greyish white, the terminal portion of each feather 
 and the shaft-line black ; those on the crown of the head, nape, 
 
8. L0P110ICTINIA. 
 
 39 
 
 and hind neck rich light rufous, broadly centered with blackish- 
 brown, the basal portions of all the feathers being white ; throat 
 butfy-white, a broad stripe of dark ashy brown margined with 
 rufous, down the centre of each feather ; sides of the neck, hind 
 neck, and all the under surface rich rufous, being lighter on the 
 flanks, each feather having a black shaft-line, and a broad stripe 
 of black down the centre, washed with ashy on the sides of the 
 neck and chest, and narrowing into a shaft-line of black on the 
 lower portion of the breast and flanks ; abdomen rich rufous ; the 
 breast, centre of abdomen, and flanks, mesially shaded or faintly 
 barred with ashy-brown on the concealed portions of the feathers ; 
 thighs, lower part of abdomen, and under tail-coverts rich rufous, 
 paler in tint on the latter, with shaft-lines of a deeper rufous 
 tint ; the extreme base of all the feathers on the under surface 
 snow-white ; under surface of the tail ashy-brown, becoming 
 ashy-white towards the base, indistinctly barred near the end 
 with blackish brown ; tail above dark brown, washed with ashy 
 on the outer webs ; margins of the inner webs fading into ashy- 
 white, freckled with brown at the base, crossed with a few indis- 
 tinct bars of brown which are wider and become blackish brown 
 at the tips; tips narrowly margined with white ; upper tail-coverts 
 and rump dark brown, back and interscapular region darker 
 brown ; primaries brown, washed with ashy ; the tips darker, 
 base white, and the basal marginal two-thirds of the inner webs 
 as far as the notch white ; secondaries dark ashy brown, becoming 
 white freckled with brown at the base of the inner webs ; all the 
 feathers banded with blackish brown, the last band broader and 
 darker on the tips of primaries and secondaries, where they form a 
 sub-terminal blotch ; median and greater wing-coverts dull brown, 
 mesially shaded with darker brown, and washed with fulvous brown 
 on the margins; remainder of the wing-coverts above brown, shaded 
 with blackish brown at the tips, bases snow-white ; under surface 
 of the primaries ashy-brown, with blackish brown bars, basal 
 portion of the inner margin white ; secondaries ashy-brown, 
 becoming white at the base, bars on all the quills showing 
 through ; under coverts of primaries and secondaries ashy-white, 
 shaded and barred with ashy-brown, darkest at the tips, where 
 some are washed with pale rufous ; remainder of the under 
 coverts and the axillaries rich rufous, mesially shaded towards 
 the base with ashy-brown, shafts blackish ; small marginal 
 feathers of the wing light rufous, edged with bulf at the tips ; cere 
 and base of the bill flesh-white, blackish at the tip ; legs and feet 
 greyish flesh colour, iris yellow. Total length 22 inches ; wing 19 9 ; 
 tail slightly forked, central feathers 10*3, outer 10 9 ; tarsus 2*0, 
 bill T9, culmen without cere IT ; from the angle of the mouth to 
 the base of anterior margin of nostril 0 95, from thence to tip of 
 bill 0 95. 
 
 D 
 
40 
 
 FALCONII)^. 
 
 Those specimens I have examined show very little varia- 
 tion in colouring ; the flanks are in some a little paler, and 
 occasionally washed with ashy-brown, and the median wing- 
 coverts in some incline to fulvous or pale rufous on their 
 margins ; wings very long, extending beyond the tip of the tail. 
 
 Young. Not so bright in the rufous colouring of the chest and 
 abdomen ; the blackish markings on the tips of the feathers 
 duller brown, "flanks lighter, tail more distinctly barred, no ashy- 
 grey on cheeks and sides of the neck. 
 
 Habitat. The whole of the eastern, southern, and south-west 
 portion of Australia. 
 
 A. 1. J ad. sk. Gayndah, Burnet Biver, Queensland. 
 
 9. GYPOICTINIA. 
 
 Type. 
 
 Gypoictinia, Kaup, Contr. Orn. 1850, p. 61 G. melanosterna. 
 
 1. Gypoictinia melanosterna A 
 
 The Blade-breasted Buzzard. 
 
 Buteo melanosternon, Gould , P.Z.S. 1840, p. 162 id. B. Austr. 
 i. pi. 20 (1848) ; Gray , Gen. B., i. p. 12 (1849) ; id. Iland-l. B. 
 i. p. 7 (1869). 
 
 Gypoictinia melanosternon, Kaup, Contr. Orn. 1850, p. 61. 
 
 Gypoictinia leucosternon, Kaup , Arch. f. Naturg. 1850, p. 33. 
 
 Gypoictinia melanosterna, Sharjpe, Brit. Mus. Cat . Acc., i. p. 
 335 (1874). 
 
 Male. “ Above blackish, browner on the scapulars, lower back, 
 and rump, the latter parts washed with rufous, some of the 
 feathers lighter-edged ; smaller wing-coverts ashy-grey, each 
 feather blackish in the centre, the rest of the wing-coverts black, 
 the inner ones washed with rufous ; quills black, the secondaries 
 ashy-grey towards their tips ; primaries externally ashy-white at 
 base, the outer ones shaded with grey ; primaries underneath 
 white at base, black towards the tip, the secondaries greyish 
 below ; upper tail-coverts black, outer ones washed with rufous ; 
 tail ashy-grey above, paler below, and inclining to white near the 
 base ; head crested, the fore part of the crown black, the hinder 
 part and the nape, as well as the sides of the neck, tawny rufous, 
 some of the feathers black in the centre, producing a striped 
 appearance; cheeks, ear-coverts, and entire under surface, black, 
 some of the flanks and abdominal feathers inclining to ashy ; 
 thighs and under tail-coverts rufous, with black shaft-lines ; 
 under wing-coverts blackish, the small ones varied with 
 white, and some washed with rufous. Total length 24 inches, 
 culmen 2*45, wing 19', tail 8*5, tarsus 2'65, middle toe 1*95.” — 
 
 Brit. Mus. Cat., Accip. i. p. 335 (1874). * 
 
 * This is the only Australian species of which we haye no example in the Museum. 
 
10. ELANFS. 
 
 41 
 
 10. ELANUS. 
 
 Type. 
 
 Elanus, Sav. Syst. Ois. d'Kgypte, p. 274 (1809) E coeruleus 
 
 Bill short, very broad at the base, and compressed towards 
 the tip, which is hooked aild acute, the nostrils large and sub- 
 oval. Wings very long, pointed, and reaching beyond the tail, 
 with the second quill the longest. Tail long, slightly emarginated. 
 Tarsi short, nearly the length of the middle toe, with the basal 
 part plumed, and the remainder covered with reticulated scales. 
 Toes moderate, broad, and free at the base, with the outer much 
 shorter than the inner toe ; the claws strong and curved. 
 
 Range. “ The whole of Africa, including the countries bordering 
 the African side of the Mediterranean ; Indian Peninsula, Indo- 
 Malayan Islands, Celebes, and Australia ; Southern States of 
 North America, and the whole of Central and Southern 
 America.” — Brit . Mus. Cat. Ace ., i. , p. 336 (1874). 
 
 1. Elanus axillaris. 
 
 The Black-shouldered Kite. 
 
 Axillary Falcon, Bath. Gen. Syn. Supp. ii. p. 43 (1801). 
 
 Falco axillaris, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. i. p. ix (1801). 
 
 Circus axillaris, Vieill. N. Diet, d' Hist. Nat. iv, p. 453 (1816). 
 
 Elanus melanopterus, Viq. Sf Horsf., Trans. Linn. Soc., xv. p. 185 
 (1827). 
 
 Elanus notatus, Gould, P.Z.S. 1837, p. 141 ; id. Syn. B. Austr. pt. 
 4. (1838). 
 
 Elanus axillaris, Gray. Ann. N. H. xi. p. 189 (1843) ; id. Gen. B. 
 i. p. 26, pi. 9, fig. 5 (1845); Gould , B. Austr. i. pi. 23 (1848) ; 
 id. Hand-hJc. B. Austr. i. p. 53. — Ramsay, P.Z.S. 1867, p. 393; 
 Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. Acc., vol. i. p. 338 (1874). 
 
 Adult female. Forehead white, becoming bluish-grey on the 
 crown of the head, all the upper surface light silvery bluish-grey, 
 becoming almost white on the outer webs of the tail-feathers, 
 pure white on the inner webs and on the under surface ; the 
 whole of the under surface of the body snow-white, with a faint 
 shade of silvery grey on the flanks and sides of the chest ; wing- 
 coverts (shoulders), except the largest series, black; wing bluish 
 silvery grey, darker on the primaries, which are darkest at the 
 tips ; under surface of primaries dark bluish-grey, inclining to 
 blackish on the outer quills ; inner series of the primary coverts 
 black, remainder dark bluish-grey, shaded with blackish on 
 margins, small feathers under spurious wing, at base of upper 
 primary coverts black; margins of the wing and rest of the under 
 
42 
 
 FALCON IDiF. 
 
 wing-coverts and axillaries snow-white ; nncler surface of the 
 secondaries and scapulars white, with a faint shade of bluish 
 grey ; lores, and a narrow line over the eye black ; bill and claws 
 black ; cere citron ; legs and feet yellow ; iris varying from deep 
 carmine to blood-red. Total lengtji # 13 ’4 inches, expanse of 
 wings 37*7, wing from flexure 12, tail 6, tarsus 1*5, tibia 2*8, 
 mid-toe 1*2, outer toe 0*75, inner toe 0*8, hind toe 0*75, bill from 
 posterior base of cere 0*9, culmen 1*1, bill from nostril 0*6, from 
 anterior margin of cere 0*8, from angle of the mouth to tip of 
 bill 1*3, shield over the eyelid 0 45 X 0*2. 
 
 Adult male. Similar to the female in plumage, and equal in 
 size. 
 
 Young. Resembling the adult, but having the crown of the 
 head and all the upper surface of the body brown, washed with 
 pale rufous on the sides of the neck, scapulars and adjacent 
 wing-coverts, rump, and upper tail-coverts ; the chest washed 
 with pale rufous at the tips of the feathers, which are centered 
 with a narrow shaft stripe of dark brown ; shafts of the wings 
 above dark brown, those of the tail feathers almost black ; 
 of both the wings and tail below white, except those of the 
 primaries, which are brown ; the two centre tail feathers and 
 outer webs of the* rest ashy brown, tips and remainder of the 
 tail feathers white ; wings ashy brown, darker towards the tips of 
 the primaries ; secondaries and greater wing-coverts largely tipped 
 with white, those parts of the wing above black in the adult are 
 of a blackish brown, many of the feathers margined with white ; 
 under surface of the primaries and the larger series of their 
 coverts ashy brown, becoming white freckled with brown on the 
 margins of the inner webs ; a small blackish brown patch at the 
 base of primaries ; margins of the shoulders white. 
 
 Habitat. The whole of Australia. 
 
 A. 1 $ ad. sk. 
 
 A. 2 S ad. sk. 
 
 A. 3 $ ad. sk. 
 
 A. 4 J ad. mntd. 
 A. 5 $ ad. mntd. 
 A. 6 5 ad. mntd. 
 A. 7 $ ad. mntd. 
 
 Sydney, N.S. Wales. B. Johnstone, Esq. Pres. 
 Shoalhaven, 1N\S. Wales. 
 
 KS. Wales. 
 
 JN\S. Wales. 
 
 Bathurst, N.S.W. Alex. Johnson, Esq. Pres. 
 N.S. Wales. 
 
 N.S. Wales. 
 
 B. 1. $ seilii-ad. sk. N.S. Wales. 
 
 B. 2 9 semi-ad. sk. N.S. Wales. 
 
 C. 1 juv. mntd. Sydney, N.S.W. 
 C. 2 juv. mntd. N.S. Wales. 
 
 * Measured in the flesh, adult 9 5 plumage of freshly shot individuals mealy. 
 
10. EL ANUS. 
 
 43 
 
 2. Elanus scriptus. 
 
 Letter-winged Mouse -Hawk, Letter-winged Kite , Sfe. 
 
 Elanus scriptus, Gouhl, B.Z.S. 1842, p. 80; id. B. Austr. fol. vol. 
 i. pi. 24 (1848) ; Gray, Gen, B. i. p. 26 (1845) ; Gould, Hand- 
 book B. Austr. i. p. 55 (1865) ; Bp. Consp. i. p. 26 (1850) ; 
 Gray, Hand-list B. i. p. 28 (1869) ; Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. Ace. 
 vol. i. p. 340 (1874). 
 
 Adult female. Above delicate ashy white, forehead, sides of 
 the face, margins of the shoulders and of the wings, and the 
 whole of the under surface, pure white, spot on the lores and 
 narrow ring round the eye black ; shoulders above and all the 
 upper wing-coverts, except the largest series, black ; small 
 feathers at the base of the primaries concealed by the spurious 
 wing, black ; greater wing-coverts ashy grey, secondaries light 
 ashy grey fading into white at the tips and inner margins, 
 primaries and primary-coverts ashy grey washed with ashy brown, 
 becoming white on the margins of the inner webs, their shafts 
 brown ; scapulars light ashy brown above, white beneath ; centre 
 two tail feathers and outer webs of next two on either side ashy 
 'White, remainder of the tail feathers above, the shafts, and all 
 below pure white; axillaries and all the under wing-coverts, 
 except the larger series, black (which following the line of the wing- 
 bones forms a black Y-shaped mark); the larger series of the wing- 
 coverts and those at the base of the primaries ashy grey, under 
 margin of the wing white. Cere and feet yellow ; bill black ; iris 
 orange red. Total length 14*5 inches, wing 12 2, tarsus 1*6, 
 tail 7, bill 1, culmen IT. 
 
 Adult male . In plumage the same as the female, in size 
 slightly smaller. Total length 13’5 inches, wing 11*4, tarsus 14, 
 tail 6*5, bill, 0*95, culmen, 1. 
 
 Young. Above ashy brown, the tips of all the feathers more or 
 less margined with white, except those on back of the neck and 
 interscapular region. Those parts of the wing black in the adult 
 are of a blackish brown, margined with white near the primaries 
 and on the shoulders. This specimen is of the same size as the 
 adult male. 
 
 A. 1. $ ad. sk. New South Wales. 
 
 A. 2. ? ad. sk. Sydney, New South Wales. 
 
 TI. Newcombe, Escp, Pres. 
 
 B. 1. ? notquiteadult.sk. New South Wales. 
 
 B. 2. 5 not quite adult, miitd. New South Wales. 
 
44 
 
 FALCONIDJE. 
 
 Subfamily FALCONING. 
 
 Outer toe only connected to middle toe by interdigital mem- 
 brane ; tibia much longer than tarsus, but the latter not 
 contained twice in the former ; hinder aspect of tarsus reticulate ; 
 bill distinctly toothed. 
 
 Key to the Genera. 
 
 a. Nostrils oblique or linear ovals, with 
 distinct over-hanging membrane. 
 a 1 . Bill with two distinct teeth; wings 
 not reaching to the tail. 
 a 1 . A distinct occipital crest; no tubercle 
 
 in nostril Baza. 
 
 b 2 . No occipital crest ; a distinct 
 
 central tubercle to nostril Harpagus. 
 
 b l . Bill with only one tooth ; wing reach- 
 ing to tip of tail Ictinia. 
 
 b. Nostrils perpendicular ovals, with no 
 overhanging membrane or central 
 tubercle. 
 
 c\ Bare part of tarsus in front less than 
 
 the outer toe Microhierax. 
 
 d l . Bare part of tarsus greater than outer 
 toe and claw 
 
 Poliohierax. 
 
 c*. Nostrils round, with distinct central 
 tubercle. 
 
 e 1 . Outer toe .(without claw) longer than 
 inner toe (without claw). 
 
 c 2 . Distance between tips of primaries 
 and tips of secondaries, less than 
 half the length of tail. 
 a 3 . Middle toe very short; the culmen 
 (without cere) not contained 
 twice in middle toe (without 
 claw) Spiziapteryx. 
 
 d 3 . Middle toe very long, more than 
 twice the length of culmen (with- 
 out cere) Harp a. 
 
 d 2 . Distance between tips of pri- 
 maries and tips of secondaries 
 more than half length of tail ... Falco. 
 
 f 1 . Outer and inner toes (without claws) 
 about equal in length. 
 
 e 2 . Distance between tips of primaries 
 and tips of secondaries about equal 
 to or less than half the length of 
 tail, 
 
11. BAZA. 
 
 45 
 
 e 3 . Tarsus finely reticulate in front, 
 not nearly twice length of middle 
 
 toe Hiekofalco. 
 
 f d . Tarsus transversely plated near 
 base of toes, more than twice 
 length of middle toe, without 
 claw Hiekacidea. 
 
 f 2 Distance between tips of primaries 
 and tips of secondaries greater than 
 
 half the length of tail. [ Cerc/meis . ] Tinnunculus. 
 Sharpe, Brit. Mus., Cat. Acc. vol. i. pp. 350, 351 (1874). 
 
 11. BAZA. 
 
 Type. 
 
 Lophotes, Less. Traite, p. 96 (1831, nec. Giorna) B. lophotes. 
 
 Baza, Hodgs. I. A. S. B. v. p. 777 (1836) B. lophotes. 
 
 Avicida, Sw., B. W. Afr. ifp. 104 (1837) B. cuculoides. 
 
 Lepidogenys, J. R. Gray, 1839, teste G. B. Gray, List. 
 
 Gen. B. p. 4, 1840 # B. lophotes. 
 
 Hytiopus, Hodgs. J. A. S. B. x. p. 27 (1841) B. lophotes. 
 
 Lophastur, Blytli, J. A. S. B. xi. p. 464 (1842) B. reinwardti. 
 
 Bill moderate, elevated at the base, which is broad, the sides 
 compassed, culmen much arched, and the lateral margins furnished 
 with two small teeth next the tip, the lower mandible also fur- 
 nished with small teeth near the tip ; the lores clothed with 
 small feathers ; the nostrils placed in the cere in the form of an 
 oblong slit, no tubercle in nostril, which has a distinct overhang- 
 ing membrane ; wings lengthened, reaching nearly to the end of 
 the tail, (4th) fourth and (5th) fifth quills nearly equal and 
 longest ; tail long, broad, even ; tarsi thick and very short, longer 
 than the middle toe, basal half plumed, the other part covered 
 with small scales ; toes thick, free to the base, the inner longer 
 than the outer, the claws small and acute. 
 
 Range. Indian and Malay Peninsula and Islands, Ceylon, 
 Molaccas, and islands to northern portions of Australia, West 
 Coast of Africa and Natal. — {Sharpe.) 
 
 1. Baza subcristata. 
 
 The Crested Hawk. 
 
 Lepidogenys subcristatus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1837, p. 140 ; id. Syn. 
 B. Austr. part iii. (1838) ; id. B. Aust. fol. i. pi. 25 (1848) ; 
 Belz. Reis. Novara , Vog. p. 8 (1865). 
 
 * Mr. Sharpe remarks “This generic name must have been in existenoe before this 
 date, as Oould quotes it in 1837 ; but I cannot find where it was published.” 
 
46 
 
 FALCONiDiE. 
 
 Baza subcristata, Gray , Gen . i?. i. p. 23.(1845); StricJcl. Orn. 
 Syn. p. 127 (1855) ; ScAZ. Ife. P.—B. Milvi, p. 4 (1862) ; 
 Gould , Hand-bk. B. Austr. i. p. 56 (1865) ; Ramsay , P. 
 
 1867, p. 392; Gray, Hand-l. B. i. p. 25 (1869); Sharpe, 
 Brit. Mus. Cat. Ace. i. p. 357 (1874). 
 
 Avicicla subcristata, Lafr. Rev. Zool. 1846, p. 127 ; Bp. Consp. 
 i. p. 20 (1850) ; id. Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1854, p. 535. 
 
 Pernis subcristatus, Kaup, Isis , 1847, p. 343, et Contr. Orn. 1850, 
 p. 77. 
 
 Adult. Head and neck asliy grey, darker on the crown and 
 towards the occipital crest, which is almost black ; scapulars, 
 inner secondaries, and their coverts, and the remainder of the 
 upper surface of the body brown ; the wing-coverts interscapular 
 region, tips of the outer scapulars, blackish slate ; primaries and 
 secondaries above very dark brown, * becoming blackish on the 
 outer webs, the base of their inner webs and their under surface 
 light ashy grey (white in certain lights), narrowly margined with 
 white at the base ; all the quills broadly barred with black, the 
 last bar the broadest, and forming a subterminal spot at the tip, 
 which on the inner primaries and the secondaries is sometimes 
 narrowly margined with white ; bars on the basal portion of the 
 under surface obsolete — or confined to the outer webs ; tail ashy 
 brown above, light ashy grey below, the basal half crossed with 
 three interrupted black bands formed by a series of spots which 
 are confined to the central part of the feathers, and not extending 
 to the margins ; the terminal half of the feather is crossed at the 
 tip with a broad black band, which on the outer two feathers 
 forms a subterminal blotch, the tips of these feathers more or less 
 margined, and the outer ones broadly tipped with ashy white on 
 the under surface, the shafts blackish above, white below ; sides 
 of the face, lores, throat, and chest ashy grey of a lighter tint than 
 the neck ; the breast, upper portion of the abdomen, and thighs, 
 and the flanks, bufly white, washed towards the tips, with rufous 
 and broadly barred Avith chestnut brown on the exposed portions, 
 and dark ashy brown on the concealed portions of the feathers 
 ( the chestnut brown bars consisting of a broad bar of dark asliy brown , 
 centred and margined with a narrow bar of rufous chestnut!) ; the 
 abdomen, lower half of the tibia, under tail- and wing-coverts rich 
 rufous buff, the outer series of the under primary-coverts buff. 
 
 Bill black, iris bright yellow, cere and legs greyish yellow. 
 Total length 16 6 inches, wing 13'6, tail 8*5, tarsus 1'5, bill from 
 forehead IT, from cere 0*75, culmen 12. 
 
 The Female. Similar to the male in plumage and size, or per- 
 haps a trifle larger. 
 
 Immature birds are of a lighter brown above than in the fully 
 adult, occipital crest dark brown; throat buffy white ; chest, sides 
 of the neck, and dorsal feathers ashy grey, washed with pale 
 
12. FALCO. 
 
 4t7 
 
 rufous ; the breast and the remainder of the under surface huffy 
 white, the bars narrower, and of a chestnut brown tint ; abdomen, 
 under tail- and wing-coverts buff ; all the bars on the tail extend 
 across the feathers, the bars near the base being dark brown, that 
 at the tip broadest and blackish brown ; the inner webs at the 
 base are lighter and frequently freckled, and marked with spots 
 of blackish brown, margined with white. 
 
 Young. “ Above paler brown than in the adult, with narrow 
 margins of ochraceous buff to the dorsal feathers and wing-coverts, 
 becoming broader and more white on the inner secondaries ; 
 crown dark brown, as also the occipital crest, the white bases to 
 the feathers rather conspicuous ; forehead and sides of the face 
 dusky cinereous, the former inclining to whitish ; throat whitish ; 
 fore neck and chest buff, with a rufous tinge, which extends on 
 to the sides and hinder part of the neck; breast buffy white, 
 barred with rufous brown, much more narrowly than in the old 
 bird ; thighs and under wing- and tail-coverts rich buff, the 
 former crossed near the base with a few narrow bars of rufous 
 brown.” — Brit. Mas. Gat. Accip. i. p. 358 (1871). 
 
 Hob. The whole of the north-eastern portion of Australia, 
 from Cape York to the Clarence River. 
 
 A. 1 $. ad. mntd. Port Denison, Queensland. 
 
 A. 2 $. ad. mntd. JN\ S. Wales. 
 
 A. 3 $ . ad. sk. Pine Mountains, Queensland. 
 
 A. 4 — . ad. sk. N. S. Wales. 
 
 B. 1 immature, sk. Cape York. Mr. J. A. Thorpe. 
 B. 2 ? . immature, sk. Gayndah, Queensland. 
 
 Pres. 
 
 12. FALCO. (Linnaeus.) 
 
 Type. 
 
 Falco, Linn. S. N. i. p. 21 (1766) P. communis. 
 
 Tinnunculus, Vieill. Ois. Amir. Sept., i. p. 39 (1807) F. columbarius. 
 
 Hypotriorcliis, Bole, Isis. 1826, p. 967 F. subbuteo. 
 
 ^Esalon, Kaup, Naturl. Syst. p. 40 (1829) F. rcgulus. 
 
 Denclrofalco, Gray, List. Gen. B. p. 3 (1840) F. subbuteo. 
 
 Lithofalco, Blasius F. regulus. 
 
 Gennaia, Kaup, Isis, 1847, p. 69 F. juggur. 
 
 Chiequera, Bp. Bev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 535... F. chicquera. 
 Turumtia, Blyth, Ibis, 1863, p. 9 F. chicquera. 
 
 Bill short, strong, with the culmen much arched from the 
 base to the tip, which is acute ; the sides compressed, the lateral 
 margins strongly toothed near the tip ; the nostrils placed in a 
 short cere, naked and rounded with a central tubercle ; icings 
 lengthened and acute, with the second and third quills the longest, 
 and the first and second notched near the tip ; tail long and 
 
48 
 
 FALCOtfIDJE. 
 
 rounded ; tarsi short, strong, covered with small irregular scales, 
 and the tibial feathers covering the knee ; toes lengthened and 
 strong, the lateral ones unequal ; the hind toe long, armed as well 
 as the inner with a strong hooked acute claw. 
 
 1. Falco melanogenys. 
 
 The Black- cheeked Falcon . 
 
 Falco perigrinus, Vig. Sf Horsf. Tr. Linn. Soc r xv. p. 183 (1826) ; 
 
 Biggies , Orn. Aust. part 20 (1868). 
 
 Falco melanogenys, Gould, B.Z.S. 1837, p. 139 ; id. Syn. B. Austr. 
 
 pt. ii. (1838) ; id. B. Austr. vol. i. pi. 8 (1848) ; id. Hand-bk. 
 
 B. Austr. i, p. 26 (1865) ; Sharpe, Ann. N. H. (4) xi. p. 224 (1873) ; 
 
 Gray , Hand-l, of B. i. p. 19 (1869) ; Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. 
 
 Acc'.i. p. 385 (1874). 
 
 Falco macropus, Swains. An. in Menag. p. 341 (1837). 
 
 Falco communis, Schl. Valkv. Ned. Ind. pp. 2, 44. pi. i. fig. 2 (1866). 
 
 Adult male • The whole of the head, the nape, and the back of 
 the neck, sides of the face, ear-coverts, and cheeks, extending to 
 the sides of the throat, black; throat pale buff*, almost white; 
 chest creamy buff, deepening in tint towards the breast, where 
 the feathers have a pale rufous shaft-stripe, and frequently a spot 
 of black near the tip ; the rest of the under surface buffy white, 
 closely barred with narrow cross lines of black ; the flanks, sides 
 of the body, and thighs washed with bluish grey ; the breast and 
 central portion of the abdomen washed with pale rufous fawn, 
 shaft-lines rufous fawn on the interspaces ; axillaries and under 
 wing-coverts light buff, barred with brownish black, and washed 
 with bluish grey ; the greater series and the under surface of 
 the primaries, dark ashy brown, barred with buffy white; inter- 
 scapular region black, having a few transverse obsolete bars of 
 bluish ashy grey ; the remainder of the upper surface bluish ashy 
 grey barred with black and having a black shaft-stripe, which 
 joining the bars, gives them a somewhat triangular form on the 
 rump and upper tail-coverts ; the bands on the tail broad, eleven to 
 twelve in number, and increasing in size towards the tip where, 
 being broadest, they take a triangular form ; the tips of all the tail- 
 feathers creamy white ; the secondaries and inner primaries above 
 narrowly margined with creamy white at the tips, the interspaces 
 on the inner webs, towards the base, washed with buff* ; the pri- 
 maries at the tips and on the outer webs black, on the inner brown- 
 ish at the base, barred with rufous buff, the bars obsolete towards 
 the tip, where they are washed with bluish grey nearest the shaft, 
 and confined to the middle portion of the web ; bill bluish green 
 at the base, blackish horn-colour at the tip, lower mandible 
 greenish yellow, bluish horn-colour at the tip ; cere greenish grey ; 
 i rides hazel ; legs and feet greyish yellow ; claws dark horn-colour. 
 Total length 16’5 inches, wing 12*7, tail 6*7, tarsus 2 0, bill 
 from gape 2 3, from* forehead 2T, c-ulmen 1*2. {Mus. Dobroijde.') 
 
12. FALCO. 
 
 49 
 
 Adult female. Similar in plumage to the male, but larger and 
 more highly coloured; the under surface is washed with deep rufous 
 fawn, being pale rufous on the chest and buff on the throat ; the 
 bars on the under surface are narrower, wider apart, and some- 
 times irregular. Total length 17 inches, wing 13*3, tail 7*5, 
 tarsus 205 ; bill from forehead IT, from gape T35, culmen, 1*25. 
 
 Young. The young of both sexes somewhat resemble the adults, 
 the under surface is of a more fawn-coloured or ferruginous hue 
 from the chest downwards ; the chest is streaked with dart- shaped 
 markings, and the breast and abdomen with longitudinal markings 
 of blackish brown ; the flanks and thighs barred with bracket- 
 shaped and the legs with hastate markings of the same colour ; the 
 axillaries and under wing-coverts are centred and barred with 
 blackish brown ; the upper surface is tinged with brown, the quills 
 margined at the tips with buffy white, all the feathers of the body 
 above margined with fulvous, more broadly on the wing-coverts, 
 secondaries, and upper tail-coverts. ( Mm . Bobroyde.) 
 
 A. 1 2 ad. mntd. Pennant Hills, N.S. Wales. 
 
 A. 2 2 ad. sk. N.S. Wales. 
 
 B. 1 ? semi-ad. sk. Port Lincoln, South Australia. 
 
 2. Falco hypoleucus. 
 
 The Grey Falcon. 
 
 Palco hypoleucus, Gould , P. Z. S. 1840, p. 162 ( descrip . origin) ; 
 id. B. Austr. fol. vol. i. pi. 7 (1848) ; id. Handblc. B. Austr. i. 
 p. 24 (1865). Sharpe , Brit. Mus. Cat . Ace. i. p. 394 (1874) ; 
 Gray , Gen. B. i. p. 19 (1844); id. ILand-l. of B. i. p. 18. (1869). 
 
 Gennaia hypoleucus, Kau/p, Contr. Orn. 1858, p. 55. 
 
 Hierofalco hypoleucus, Bp. Ben. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 536. 
 
 Adult female. All the upper surface bluish ashy-grey, all the 
 under surface of a lighter ashy-grey tint, each feather having a 
 blackish shaft-line clown the centre, more conspicuous on the 
 upper than on the under surface. Wings above have a more 
 ashy tint on the margins of the coverts and secondaries, all the 
 wing-feathers, scapulars, rump, upper and under tail-coverts 
 and tail crossed with ashy-brown bars, darkest and more distinct 
 on the tail and wings ; tips of the tail-feathers margined with 
 ashy white, the bars of the under surface of the tail of a browner 
 tint, primaries above blackish brown, shafts lead-colour, the outer 
 webs of the basal portion washed with bluish ashy-grey, inner 
 webs ashy white, freckled with brown and crossed with triangular 
 denticulations of a darker tint, running from the shaft and 
 reaching nearly to the margin ; secondaries ashy-grev, the margins 
 of the inner webs ashy-white freckled with brown and barred like 
 the primaries ; the inner primaries and secondaries narrowly 
 
50 
 
 FALCONIDJE. 
 
 margined with wliite at the tips ; under surface of the wings and 
 axillaries ashy white, with indistinct shaft-lines ; the throat and 
 abdomen and under tail-coverts are paler than the rest of the 
 under surface of the body, and in some specimens almost white ; 
 the frontal line and sides of the face light ashy-grey ; ear-coverts 
 whitish, tinged with ashy-grey on the upper portions ; a narrow 
 line of black round the anterior portion of the eye, widening 
 below it, formed by produced black shafts of feathers about the 
 lores ; irides hazel ; orbits, legs and feet bright deep yellow ; bill 
 yellowish at the base, dark horn-colour at the tip. ( Mus . Dobroyde .) 
 
 Total length 15 inches, wing 126, tarsus T8, tail 6*5, bill from 
 forehead 0‘9, from gape IT, culmen IT. 
 
 Adult male similar in plumage, but slightly smaller. Total 
 length 12 inches, wing 11 1, tail (12, tarsus 1‘75, bill ‘85, from 
 gape IT. 
 
 A. 1 2 ad. sk. North Australia. 
 
 A. 2 $ ad. mntd. Australia. 
 
 3. Falco subniger. 
 
 The Black Falcon. 
 
 Falco subniger, Gray , Ann. Nat. Hist. xi. p. 371 (1843) ; id. Gen. 
 B. i. p. 19, pi. 8 (1844) ; Gould , B. Austr. fol. i. pi. 9 (1848) ; 
 Sturt , j Exp. C. Austr. ii. App. p. 14 (1849); Bp. Consp. i. 
 p. 24 (1850) ; Strickl. Orn. Syn. p. 80 (1855) ; Schl. Mus. B.-B. 
 Falc. p. 18 (1862) ; Gray , Hand-l. B. i. p. 18 (1869) ; Diggles , Orn. 
 Austr. pt. 9 (1869) ; Sharpe , Brit. Mus. Cat. i. Arc. p. 394 (1874). 
 
 llierofalco subniger, Kaup , Contr . Orn. 1850, p. 56 ; Bp. Rev. et 
 Mag. de Zool, 1854, p. 536. 
 
 Adult female. The whole of the upper and under surface dark 
 brown, becoming blackish brown on the upper surface and dull 
 slaty-brown on the under surface of the primaries and secondaries ; 
 margins at the tips of the scapulars, inner primaries, and 
 secondaries buffy white ; inner webs of the primaries barred on 
 the central portion and much freckled at the base with very 
 pale rufous, the secondaries with a few spots of same tint 
 near the base ; the under-tail and primary-coverts spotted on 
 either side of the shaft with oblong marks of buffy-white ; tail 
 crossed with indistinct broken bars of very pale rufous, and tipped 
 with buffy white ; on the chest and breast, and on some of the 
 axillaries are a few scattered spots of pale rufous ; the feathers 
 of the throat, cheeks, and ear-coverts white, tipped with brown, 
 giving them a mottled appearance ; a narrow line over the eye, 
 and from the lores a broad oblique short blackish stripe descends 
 to below the ear-coverts on the side of the throat ; bill lead- 
 blue at the base, blackish at the tip and along the culmen • cere 
 yellow ; legs and feet yellowish, claws black. 
 
12. JFALCO. 
 
 51 
 
 Total length 205 inches, wing 15 7, tail 10, tarsus 2-2, bill 
 from gape 1*4, from forehead IT, from nostril 0‘8, culmen 1*2. 
 
 Adult male. Similar in plumage, but smaller than the females. 
 Some specimens have no spots or bars on the under tail-coverts, 
 and tail, and the chin alone white. Total length IS inches, 
 wing 14'3, tail 8 G, tarsus T9, bill from forehead 1, culmen IT, 
 from gape 1*2. 
 
 A. 1 $ ad. sk. South Australia. 
 
 A. 2 $ ad. sk. South Australia. 
 
 4. Falco lunulatus. 
 
 The White-fronted Falcon. 
 
 Lunated Falcon, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. ii. p. 54 (1801). 
 
 Falco lunulatus, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. ii. p. xiii. (1801) ; 
 StricJcl. Orn. Syn. p. 89 (1855) ; Gould , Hand-bhc. B. Austr. 
 i. p. 29 (1865) ; Schl. Bevue Acciptr. p. 39 (1873) ; Sharpe, 
 Brit. Mus. Cat. Acc. i. p. 398 (1874). 
 
 Sparvius lunulatus, Vieill. N. Diet, d’ Hist. Fat. x. p. 324 
 (1817). 
 
 Falco longipennis, Sic. An. in Menag. p. 341 (1837). 
 
 Falco frontatus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1837, p. 139 ; id. Syd. B. Austr. 
 pi. 3, fig. 1 (1838) ; id. B. Austr. vol. i. pi. 10 '(1848) ; Schl. 
 Vog. Nederl. Ind. pp. 5, 146, pi. 2, figs. 4-6 (1866) ; Digg. 
 Orn. Austr. pt. ii (1869). 
 
 Hypotriorchis frontatus, Gray , Gen. of B. i. p. 20 (1844) ; Bp. 
 Consp. p. 25 (1850) ; Kaup, Contr. Orn. 1850, p. 55. 
 
 Falco subbuteo frontatus, Schl. Mus. P.-B. Falc. p. 22 (1862.) 
 
 Hypotriorchis lunulatus, Wall. Ibis, 1868, p. 5 ; Gray, Hand-l. B. 
 i. p. 20 (1869). 
 
 uidult male. All the upper surface slaty-blue, being darkest 
 on the shoulders and inter-scapular region ; lightest and inclining 
 to lead-colour on the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, and of 
 a dark brownish tinge on the head ; lores and forehead white, or 
 of a huffy hue ; nape and adjacent feathers on the sides of the 
 neck, tinged with rusty ; sides of the neck, throat, and lower part 
 of the ear-coverts white, occasionally tinged with rufous buff ; 
 cheeks, sides of the face, and upper parts of the ear-coverts, 
 brownish black ; chest, huffy-white washed with light rufous, 
 becoming light rusty rufous on the remainder of the under- 
 surface, deepest on the flanks, where faint greyish cross-bars 
 appear ; breast striped with shaft-lines of greyish brown ; under 
 surface of the wings dull rufous, lighter on the margins of the 
 shoulders, and crossed with ashy brown bars ; the outer series of 
 the under wing-coverts and the axillaries ashy brown, tipped and 
 spotted on both webs with pale rufous ; primaries dark brown 
 washed with slaty blue on the outer web, and barred with a 
 
 U. OF ILL' UK 
 
52 
 
 FALCONIM). 
 
 series of transverse oblong spots of pale rufous on the central 
 portion of the inner webs ; secondaries slaty blue barred like the 
 primaries with light rufous ; upper wing-coverts scapulars 
 slaty blue, with a few oblong spots of light rufous near the base 
 of the feathers — many of the wing-coverts, scapulars, and quills 
 showing indistinct dark cross-bars ; the tips of the secondaries 
 and some of the inner primaries margined with white ; the rump 
 and upper tail-coverts light slaty blue with indistinct cross- 
 bars, shaft-stripes dark brown ; the two centre tail-feathers and 
 the outer webs of all the rest, slaty blue barred with blackish 
 brown, the inner webs barred alternately with blackish brown 
 and rufous, the last brown bar the deepest in tint and forming a 
 a broad subterminal blackish band ; the tips of all the feathers 
 rufous ; lower part of the abdomen, and under tail-coverts, buff, 
 shaded with rufous and having obsolete bars of ashy brown ; 
 orbits, cere, and base of the under mandible yellowish ; bill bluish 
 lead-colour, tip black ; feet yellow ; iris dark brown. Total 
 length 11*2 inches, wing 9*7, tail 5 5, tarsus 1*35, bill 0*75, 
 culmen 08. 
 
 Remark. The first primary is frequently margined on the 
 outer web with a narrow wavy line of pale rufous ; the forehead 
 and lores, even in fully adult birds, and the nape and sides of the 
 neck, tinged with deep rusty rufous. 
 
 Adult female. Similar in markings, but not so brightly tinted 
 as the male and considerably larger. Total length 13*8 inches, 
 wing 11*4, tail 6*1, tarsus 1*45, bill 0*8, culmen 0*9. 
 
 Young. “ Above slaty blue, with broad rust-coloured margins to 
 the feathers, the secondaries plainly tipped with buffy white ; the 
 crown and upper tail-coverts rusty, being quite obscured by the 
 margins to the feathers ; forehead whitish ; fore part of cheeks, 
 region of the eye, and ear-coverts brownish black ; hinder 
 part of cheeks, sides of neck and throat creamy white ; chest 
 creamy buff, tinged with rufous, with several dark brown streaks 
 down the centre of the feathers ; remainder of the under surface 
 deep rufous ; the lower abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts 
 tawny buff, with a few rufous shaft-stripes and bars ; under wing- 
 coverts dull rufous, with oval spots of creamy buff ; primaries 
 dark brown, tipped with whitish and barred on the inner web 
 with rufous ; tail greyish above, browner beneath, all the feathers 
 barred across and tipped with rufous.” — Brit. JHus. Cat. 1874. 
 Ace. i. p. 399. 
 
 Habitat. The whole of Australia, Tasmania, and Flores. 
 
 Remarks. Not having a young specimen from N. S. W., the 
 above description has been taken from the British Museum 
 Catalogue. The following descriptions, however, are from a 
 
12. FALCOr 
 
 53 
 
 fine series in the Australian Museum of the young, and adult 
 female, from King George’s Sound ; but although differing in 
 some respects from the New South Wales birds, they can 
 scarcely lay claim to be considered a distinct species. 
 
 Specimen JVo. 1 juv. K.G.S. — Above slaty blue tinged with 
 brown, tail dark brown tinged with ashy, the inner webs and the 
 under surface dark brown, the central portion of the inner webs 
 barred, and that of the outer spotted with rufous, the spots 
 being obsolete on the two central and on the outer web of two 
 external feathers, a few of the upper tail-coverts also spotted 
 near the base with rufous ; all the feathers of upper surface 
 broadly tipped with rufous ; feathers of the head and neck 
 rufous, with a blackish brown shaft-line and base, giving a 
 streaked appearance ; forehead buff tinged with rufous ; throat 
 buff; sides of the neck and lower part of the ear-coverts buff 
 washed with rusty rufous, deepest in tint behind the ear-coverts ; 
 lores, forepart of the cheeks, sides of the head, and ear-coverts 
 brownish black ; chest buff, rufescent on the breast, and becoming 
 rufous on the remainder of the under surface, being lighter on 
 the lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts, and deep- 
 est on the central portions, sides, and flanks ; all the feathers 
 centered with a shaft-line of brownish black, which widens into 
 narrow stripes on the chest ; the flanks crossed with ashy brown 
 bars triangular in form, the axillaries and outer series of the 
 under wing-coverts dark brown with oval spots of pale rufous ; 
 the remainder of the under wing-coverts brown, washed with 
 rufous, and tipped and spotted with a lighter tint ; primaries above 
 blackish brown ; secondaries washed with ashy ; all the quills 
 barred on the central portion of their inner webs with light ru- 
 fous, and, with the primary coverts having the tips margined 
 with buff narrowly edged with white ; bill bluish horn-colour ; 
 culmen darker, lower mandible whitish, at the tip horn-colour ; 
 legs and feet flesh grey. Total length 123 inches, wing 9*7, 
 tail 5*3, tarsus 1*55, bill 0'63, culmen 0*73. 
 
 Spm. JVo. 2 juv. Is similar in plumage, the stripes on the breast 
 may be a trifle broader, the under surface is of the same deep 
 rufous tint ; and the flanks a little more distinctly barred, the 
 rufous spots and bars on the tail are closer together but not 
 continuous. 
 
 Spm. JVo. 3. This bird had apparently only just arrived in adult 
 plumage, but the whole of the colouring is much brighter than in 
 any other specimens I have examined. The whole of the upper 
 surface is of a fine rich slate-blue, head and wings rich blackish 
 brown ; tail blackish browm w r ashed wdth slaty blue on two central 
 feathers, and outer webs of remainder tipped, and barred in most 
 instances quite across the feather, with rufous the two central 
 
51 
 
 FALCONLDJE. 
 
 feathers barred with slaty black, the interspaces near the base 
 tinged with rufous; the cheeks, ear-coverts, and region of the eye, 
 brownish black ; forehead buff tinged with rufous ; a few tawny 
 feathers on the sides of the neck ; throat white, lower parts tinged 
 with rufous buff, all the feathers with blackish shaft-lines. All the 
 under surface light rusty rufous deepening into rufous on the 
 breast, sides, flanks, and thighs ; down the breast are broad 
 streaks of blackish brown, which alter into arrow-shaped mark- 
 ings having a slaty-blue tinge on the side, and irregular broad 
 cross bands of the same tint on the flanks ; on the abdomen and 
 remainder of under surface the shaft-stripes are very narrow, but 
 slightly swollen near the tips of the feathers on the legs ; on the 
 thighs they are occasionally hastate or arrow-shaped ; the prima- 
 ries and secondaries narrowly margined with white at the tips ; 
 bill bluish horn-color, blackish at the tip ; lower mandible lighter 
 at the base ; cere bluish grey ; feet flesh grey ; claws black. 
 
 Measurement of Specimens from Neiv South Wales , Sfc., Sfc. 
 
 Total 
 
 length. 
 
 fcb 
 
 a 
 
 ? 
 
 Tail. 
 
 Tarsus. 
 
 Bill. 
 
 Culmen. 
 
 Middle toe. 
 
 Its claw. 
 
 Hind toe. 
 
 Its claw. 
 
 Localities and Remarks, 
 &c. 
 
 In, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 13 8 
 
 11-4 
 
 61 
 
 1-45 
 
 0-8 
 
 0-9 
 
 1-6 
 
 0-45 
 
 0-7 
 
 0*55 
 
 “Port Augusta, South 
 Australia.” 
 
 9 14- 
 
 11-3 
 
 61 
 
 1*4 
 
 0*7 
 
 0-75 
 
 1*5 
 
 0*45 
 
 0-65 
 
 0-55 
 
 Port Denison. 
 
 9 12*6 
 
 10-0 
 
 6-0 
 
 1-45 
 
 0-75 
 
 0-85 
 
 1-5 
 
 0-45 
 
 0-65 
 
 045 
 
 Clarence River, N.S.W. 
 
 $ ? 11-5 
 
 10-7 
 
 5-5 
 
 1*45 
 
 0-75 
 
 0*85 
 
 1*5 
 
 0*45 
 
 0-65 
 
 0-45 
 
 Dark plumage, N.S.W., 
 marked 9> but pro- 
 bably <£. 
 
 $ 11-5 
 
 9 6 
 
 5*4 
 
 1-35 
 
 0-7 
 
 0*75 
 
 1*35 
 
 0*5 
 
 0*55 
 
 0-5 
 
 Dark plumage, tail fea- 
 thers spotted oil 
 outer webs with ru- 
 fous. 
 
 Specimens from King George's Sound, Western Australia. 
 
 Tn. 
 
 9 ? 12-3 
 
 97 
 
 5-3 
 
 1-55 
 
 0-63 
 
 073 
 
 1-4 
 
 0-4 
 
 0-6 
 
 0-51 
 
 No. 1. “<* Feb. 1866. 
 
 9 13*1 
 
 10-95 
 
 5-9 
 
 1-65 
 
 0-75 
 
 0-85 
 
 1*5 
 
 0-5 
 
 0-6 
 
 0-55 
 
 K.G.S.” 
 
 No. 2. “ 9 March , 
 
 9 13-7 
 
 10-85 
 
 6* 
 
 1-6 
 
 0-8 
 
 0-9 
 
 1*55 
 
 0-52 
 
 0-61 
 
 0-5 
 
 1866. K.G.S” 
 
 No. 3. “ 9 Apr *7,1866. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 K.GS” 
 
13. HIERACIDEA. 
 
 55 
 
 A. 1 ? ad. mntd. 
 A. 2 „ ,, 
 
 A. 3 S' 99 99 
 
 A. 4 ? „ „ 
 
 A. 5 $ ,, 99 
 
 A. 6 2 (?) „ „ 
 
 A. 7 $ ad. sk. 
 
 C. 1 juv. sk. 
 
 C. 2 „ „ 
 
 Clarence Kiver, New Soutli Wales. 
 New Soutli Wales. 
 
 j* 
 
 Port Denison, Queensland. 
 
 Port Augusta, Soutli Australia. 
 
 New Soutli Wales. 
 
 King George’s Sound. — April, 1866. 
 King George’s Sound. — Feb. 1869. 
 
 ,, „ „ March, 1866. 
 
 13. HIERACIDEA. 
 
 Type. 
 
 Ieracidea, Gould , P.Z.S., 1837, p. 141 H. berigora. 
 
 The forms of this genus much resemble those of Falco ; nostrils 
 round, with a distinct central tubercle ; bill as in Falco ; wing 
 moderate, second and third quills nearly equal and longest ; tarsi 
 lengthened, covered in front with large hexagonical scales and 
 transversely plated near the base of the toes ; outer and inner 
 toes equal. 
 
 Range. The whole of Australia. 
 
 1. Hieracidea berigora.* 
 
 The Western Brown Bawlc. 
 
 Falco berigora, Vig. Sf Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. xv. p. 184 (1827); 
 Schl. Revue Accipitr. p. 47. (1873) 
 
 Hieracidea occidentals, Gould , P . Z. S., 1844, p. 105 ; Gray , 
 Gen. B., i. p. 20 (1844) ; Gould , B. Austr. i. pi. 12 (1848) ; 
 Bp. Consp. i., p. 22 (1850) ; id. Rev. et Mag. de Zool ., 1854, 
 p. 536 ; Strichl. Orn. Syn., p. 101 (1855) ; Relz. Verb, z.-b 
 Wein s xiii., p. 621 (1863) ; Gould, Hand-bJc., B. Austr . i. 
 p. 33 (1865) ; Gray, Hand-l. B. i., p. 22 (1869). 
 
 Falco berigora occidentalis, Schl. Mus. R.-B. Falc. p. 37 
 (1862). 
 
 Hieracidea berigora, Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. Acc., i. p. 421 
 (1874). 
 
 Adult male. “ Upper surface sandy brown, strongly inclining 
 to rufous, with which colour most of the feathers are 
 edged, excepting the scapulars and inner secondaries, where 
 the margins incline to fulvous ; the feathers of the lower back, 
 rump,' and upper tail-coverts broadly tipped with rufous ; head a 
 little lighter than the back, with blackish shaft-stripes ; forehead, 
 
 # Note : — Mr. Sharpe remarks : That the possession by the British 
 
 Museum of the original types of Hieracidea berigora, which were received 
 from the Linnean Society, enables him to prove that the B. occidentalis of 
 Gould is the true R. berigora. — Brit. Mus. Cat. Acc. i. p. 421 (1874). 
 
 E 
 
56 
 
 FALC0NIDJ3. 
 
 lores* and an indistinct eyebrow, whitish ; nape scarcely at all 
 mixed with white ; sides of the face creamy white, the sides of 
 the neck slightly washed with rufous and narrowly streaked with 
 brown ; a narrow supraorbital line of feathers, as well as a mous- 
 tarchial streak, from the fore part of eye down the cheeks and 
 the hinder part of ear- coverts, dark brown ; under surface of the 
 body creamy white, with brownish shaft-stripes ; thighs, axil- 
 laries, and inner under wing-coverts chestnut ; outer wing-coverts 
 white ; quills dark brown, with a slight tinge of ashy grey, the 
 secondaries paler brown, with rufous-white tips, inner surface of 
 wing white, the inner webs barred with rufous above, each bar 
 being almost continuous with the preceding one on the primaries ; 
 tail brown, tipped with white and shaded with ashy, barred with 
 rufous, the bars not being continued entirely across # the feather ; 
 cere pale yellow ; orbits bluish flesh-colour ; bill bluish lead- 
 colour, black at tip ; feet light ashy grey, tarsal scales in front 
 yellowish white ; iris brown. Total length 15*5 inches, culmen 
 1T5, wing 13, tail 7*8, tarsus 2*55.” Sharpe , Brit. Mus. Cat. 
 
 Aeciptr. i., p. 421 (1874). 
 
 Young. “ Similar to the adults, but plainly spotted and banded 
 with rufous above, especially on the wing-coverts and inner secon- 
 daries ; under surface of body for the most part pale sandy rufous, 
 mottled with creamy white, where the plumage shows signs of 
 approaching adolescence ; thighs deep chestnut brown, with faint 
 cross bars of rufous ; the facial features more pronounced than in 
 the adult.” Sharpe , Brit. Mus. Cat. Ace. i. p. 421 (1874). 
 
 Adult female. Similar to the male, but a little larger. Total 
 length 17 inches, culmen IT, wing 14, tail 8'8, tarsus 2 8. 
 
 Bemarlc. The type specimens of this species being now in the 
 British Museum, the above descriptions have been doubtless 
 taken from them, and on that account they have been transcribed 
 here. 
 
 Measurements of average sized Specimens. 
 
 Total 
 
 length. 
 
 Wing. 
 
 Tail. 
 
 Tarsus. 
 
 Bill. 
 
 Culmen. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Inches. 
 $ 14-6 
 
 11-6 
 
 7-6 
 
 2-6 
 
 0-95 
 
 11 
 
 Adult mntd. in full plumage, from K.G.S. 
 
 $ 156 
 
 11*6 
 
 7*5 
 
 2*5 
 
 0*9 
 
 1*05 
 
 Adult, skin in full plumage, K.G.S. 
 
 9 17-6 
 
 12-7 
 
 8-4 
 
 2-75 
 
 10 
 
 1-15 
 
 Not quite adult, K.G.S. 
 
 A 1 $ ad. mntd. King George’s Sound. 
 
 A 2 $ ad. sk. King George’s Sound. 
 
 B 1 ? ek. King George’s Sound. 
 
13. HIERACIDEA. 
 
 57 
 
 2. Hieracidea orientalis. 
 
 The Brown Hawk. 
 
 Cream-bellied Falcon, Lath. Gen. Hist. i. p. 230 (1821). 
 
 Hieracidea berigora, Gray, Gen. ofB. i. p. 20 (184-4) ; Gould , B. 
 Austr. i. pi. 11 (1848) ; Bp. Consp. i. p. 22 (1850) ; Kaup , 
 Contr. Orn ., 1850, p. 56 ; Bp. Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1854, p. 
 536; StricH. Orn. Syn., p. 101 (1855); Pelz. Verb. z-b. 
 Wein. xiii. p. 621 (1863) ; Gould , Hand-b)c. B. Austr. i. p. 31 
 (1865) ; Pelz. Peis. Yoy. Yog. p. 8 (1865) ; Gray , Hand-l. B. 
 i. p. 22 (1869). 
 
 Falco berigora orientalis, Schl. Naum, 1855, p. 254. 
 
 Falco berigora, Schl. Mus. P.-B. Pale., p. 37 (1862). 
 
 Hieracidea orientalis, Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. Acc., vol. i. p. 422 
 (1874). 
 
 Adult male. “ Above brown, the feathers very slightly inclin- 
 ing to rufous on their edges, these margins being a little 
 more distinct on the inner secondaries ; crown slightly paler 
 brown, with indistinct blackish shaft-stripes, the nape mixed with 
 white ; forehead and a distinct eyebrow, as well as of the sides 
 of the face and of the neck, creamy or buffy white ; a narrow 
 streak above the supraorbital ridge, as well as a scant stripe from 
 the fore part of the eye across the cheek, and another running 
 under the eye along the upper margin of the ear-coverts, blackish 
 brown, collecting a little behind the latter ; quills dark brown, 
 the primaries and outer secondaries tipped with whitish ; spotted 
 on the outer web and barred on the inner one with rufous, the 
 inner face of the quills whitish, owing to all but the terminal bars 
 being joined together ; tail brown, with an ashy gloss on the 
 upper surface, slightly tipped with white, barred with rufous on 
 the two centre feathers, but not right across the feather, the 
 others barred on the inner and spotted with rufous on the outer 
 web, the latter marks gradually becoming less on the outer 
 feathers ; under surface of body creamy buff, the sides of the 
 body and outer face of thighs brown, converging towards the 
 centre of the lower breast, some of the feathers edged with 
 fulvous ; under wing-coverts rich creamy buff, the lower ones 
 and axillaries marked with brown ; cere and orbits pale bluish 
 lead-colour ; feet very light lead-colour ; iris very dark brown. 
 Total length 15*3 inches, culmen 1*1, wing 13, tail 8, tarsus 
 2*5.” *(Brit. Mus. Cat. Acc. i. p. 422.) 
 
 * I have here given Mr. Sharpe’s descriptions, as they have in all probability 
 been taken from the type specimens, or from others carefully compared with 
 the types of this species, for although I have examined a large series of both 
 adults and young of both sexes from various parts of Australia, widely 
 separated, I cannot find any which coincide either with Mr. Gould’s des- 
 cription of the adults, or with that given by Mr. Sharpe in the British 
 Museum Catalogue, neither of these agreeing with such birds as, until further 
 proof to the contrary, I must consider to be the adults. 
 
58 
 
 FALCONIM. 
 
 Adult female. Similar to the male, but much larger. Tota. 
 length 19*5 inches, wing 15*7, tail 9‘, tarsus 2’ 1, bill from base 
 of cere 11, from centre of nostril 0*9, culmen 1*3. 
 
 Young. “ Warmer and more chocolate-brown than the adult, 
 from which they are at once distinguished by the brown on the 
 under parts, which in the nestling covers the whole of the breast, 
 and as the bird advances in age gradually disappears, leaving the 
 chest striped with brown, and the flanks much spotted with 
 fulvous ; throat and sides of the face ochraceous buff ; forehead 
 very indistinctly indicated, the moustache and feathers below the 
 eye and hehind the ear-coverts deep chocolate, and broader than 
 in the adult’s ; feathers of the upper surface edged with rufous, 
 and spotted and half-barred with the same colour, the bars on the 
 tail a little narrower and more rufous than the adult’s.” *Brit. 
 Mus. Cat. Ace. i. p. 423. 
 
 I have before me a pair of young birds which differ so con- 
 siderably from what have previously been described as the young 
 of these species, that I shall here describe them in full : — 
 
 Young. All the upper surface dull dark brown, all the feathers 
 conspicuously margined at the tips with rufous, being deepest in 
 tint on the rump and upper tail- coverts ; feathers on the head 
 centred with a blackish shaft-stripe ; forehead and line over the 
 eye buff ; round the back of the neck from the ear-coverts a well- 
 defined broad collar of buffy white ; immediately behind the eye 
 and extending over the upper portion of the ear-coverts, a patch 
 of white pencilled with blackish shaft-lines ; hind portion of the 
 ear-coverts blackish brown, with rufous margins, lower portion of 
 the ear-coverts, throat, sides of the neck, and chest, rich buff ; a 
 narrow black moustarchial stripe extending from the lores on 
 either side of the throat to opposite the ear-coverts ; all the 
 under surface rich buff, lighter on the abdomen and under 
 tail-coverts ; the sides, flanks, outer portion of the thighs 
 blackish brown, margined with rufous-buff ; a few of the 
 feathers on the breast and chest having a brown shaft-line 
 widening into a triangular mark at the tips ; under surface of 
 the tail brown, margined at tips with buff, and barred with light 
 rufous, upper surface dark brown, slightly shaded with ashy ; the 
 two central feathers barred but not quite across, the outer webs 
 of the others spotted near the shaft and the inner webs barred 
 right across with rich rufous, all margined at the tips with pale 
 rufous ; under wing-coverts and axillaries rich buff, many of the 
 feathers blotched at the tips with irregular markings of dark 
 brown; under surface of the wings light rufous buff, the ends of 
 the quills of a darker tint, all the feathers margined at the tips 
 with rufous edged with white, the outer webs spotted, the inner 
 ones crossed with broad bands of rufous which run together on the 
 
 # Vide note to p. 57. 
 
14. TINNtTNClTLTJS. 
 
 59 
 
 margins towards the base; scapulars similarly tipped, spotted, and 
 barred with the same tint. Bill light horn colour, bluish round 
 the base, brownish along the culmen, lower mandible faded to 
 straw colour, orbits and cere grey; feet and legs bluish-grey; 
 claws brownish. # 
 
 These specimens are very similar in size and markings, the 
 male being 16 inches the female 17 inches in length. The former 
 is from the Ouse River, Tasmania, the latter from “ Dabee,” 
 New South Wales. 
 
 Measurements of Specimens. 
 
 Total 
 
 length. 
 
 Wing. 
 
 Tail. 
 
 Tar- 
 
 sus. 
 
 Bill. 
 
 Cul- 
 
 men 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 18-3 
 
 14-8 
 
 9-5 
 
 2*7 
 
 1-0 
 
 1-1 
 
 £ Shoalhaven, New South Wales, blackish 
 
 19-8 
 
 15- 
 
 9-0 
 
 275 
 
 1*0 
 
 1*2 
 
 brown, April, 1875. 
 
 9 Blackish brown. New South Wales. 
 
 19*5 
 
 15-4 
 
 9-0 
 
 3*1 
 
 11 
 
 1-3 
 
 9 Gayndah, Queensland, August, 1870. 
 
 15-8 
 
 J 2 5 
 
 7-8 
 
 2 '6 
 
 0-9 
 
 1-05 
 
 9 King George’s Sound, Oct., 1868 ; blackish- 
 
 16-6 
 
 13-5 
 
 8-4 
 
 2*8 . 
 
 09 
 
 11 
 
 brown plumage. 
 
 9 (?) “ Dabee,” New South Wales; young, 
 
 16-4 
 
 13-1 
 
 8-3 
 
 2*6 
 
 0-85 
 
 1*0 
 
 with distinct collar. 
 
 £ Ouse River, Tasmania, March, 1867 ; 
 
 16* 
 
 14-1 
 
 8-5 
 
 2*6 
 
 10 
 
 1-1 
 
 distinct collar — young. 
 
 9 Rockhampton, Queensland. 
 
 17- 
 
 14-7 
 
 8-5 
 
 2-85 
 
 11 
 
 1*2 
 
 9 New South Wales. 
 
 A. 1 ad. 2 mntd. New South Wales. 
 
 A. 2 „ $ „ 
 
 A. 3 „ 2 sk. 
 
 A. 4 ,, $ ,, 
 
 Rockhampton, Queensland. 
 Burnett River, Queensland. 
 Shoalhaven, New South Wales. 
 
 B. 1 2 (?) semi-adult sk. King George’s Sound. 
 
 B. 2 $ „ mntd. New South Wales. 
 
 C. 1 $ juv. sk. Ouse River, Tasmania. 
 
 C. 2 2 ? „ „ “ Dabee,” New South Wales. 
 
 14. TINNUNCULUS. (Vieill.) 
 
 Type. 
 
 Tinnunculus, Vieillot, Ois. d'Amer. Sept. (1807) T. sparverius. 
 
 Cerchneis, Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 976 T. rupicolus. 
 
 Erythropus, Brehm. Isis, 1828, p. 1270 T. vespertinus. 
 
 iEgypius, Kaup , Natilrl. Syst. p. 20 (1829) T. tinnunculus. 
 
 Pannyschistes, Kaup. Naturl. Syst. p. 87 (1829) T. vespertinus. 
 
 Falcula, Hodgs, J.A.S.B. 1837, p. 365 T. tinnunculus. 
 
 Tichornis Kaup, Classif. Sang u. Vog. p. 108 (1844)... T. naumanni. 
 
 Poecilornis, Kaup, t.c.p. 108 (1844) T. sparverius. 
 
 Dissodectes {subgenus) Sclater, B.Z.S. 1864, p. 248 ... T. dickersoni. 
 
 # A still younger bird, from the Macleay Collection and kindly lent me for 
 examination, has remains of white down on the head, and the light-coloured 
 portions of the under surface are of a rich creamy buff, facial features strongly 
 pronounced. 
 
60 
 
 JALCONIDJE. 
 
 Generic characters of this genus are much the same as in 
 Falco, hut the Tarsi are more or less lengthened, strong, and 
 covered in front with transverse hexagonal scales ; nostrils 
 roundish, oval, with distinct central tubercle ; toes moderate in 
 length, somewhat elongated, but strong, outer and inner about 
 equal in length ; the distance between the tips of the primaries 
 and the tips of the secondaries greater than half the length of the 
 tail. 
 
 The birds of this section are more slightly-built than those of 
 the genus Falco, and more graceful in their flight, frequently 
 poising themselves in the air and hovering with an almost 
 invisible motion of the wings — only one species, closely allied to 
 the European Kestrel ( T . tinnunculus), inhabits Australia. 
 
 'Range. “The whole of the Old and New World except 
 Oceania” (Sharpe). 
 
 1. Tinnunculus cenchroides. 
 
 The Nankeen Kestrel . 
 
 Falco cenchroides, Vig. Sf Horsf. Tr. Linn. Soc. xv. p. 183 (1826); 
 Schl. Mus. Bays-Bas , Falc. p. 29 (1862). 
 
 Tinnunculus cenchroides, Gray , Gen. of B. i. p. 21 (1844) ; Gould , 
 B. Aust. i. pi. 13 (1848) ; Sturt, Exp. Gentr. Austr. App. p. 14 
 (1849) ; Bp. Consp. i. p. 27 (1850) ; Kaup, Contr. Orn. 1850, 
 p. 53 ; Bp. Rev. et Mag. de Zool, 1854, p. 527 ; Strickl. Orn. 
 Syn. p. 98 (1855) ; Belz. Verb. z.-h. Wien. xiii. p. 626 (1863) ; 
 Gould, Hand-bk. B. Austr. i. p. 35 (1865) ; Biggies, Orn. Austr . 
 pt. 8 (1869) ; Gray, ILand’l. B. i. p. 23 (1869). 
 
 Cerchneis cenchroides, Sharpe, Brit . Mus. Cat. Acc. i. p. 431 
 (1874). 
 
 Adult male. All the upper surface of the body light rufous ; 
 the scapulars, a few of the inner secondaries and outer series 
 of the wing-coverts having a triangular spot of black near the 
 tip ; head bluish-grey, washed with rufous on the margins of the 
 feathers, the shafts black, which also appears on the nape, and on 
 the sides and back of the neck ; primaries and secondaries 
 blackish brown the marginal half of the inner webs (except at the 
 tips) toothed with white, more widely towards the base, the apex of 
 the teeth like markings margined with pale rufous which forms 
 a wavy line along the centre of the web ; inner primaries and 
 secondaries margined at the tips with buffy white ; primary 
 coverts, spurious wings, and a few of the innermost secondaries 
 irregularly blotched or mottled with rufous ; interscapular region 
 and back clear rufous without spots ; lower part of the rump and 
 upper tail coverts bluish -grey ; tail feathers blue-grey, w T hitish on 
 the outer webs near the base, but slightly washed with pale 
 rufous towards the tip, all except the outer one, on either side 
 
14. TINNUNCULUS. 
 
 61 
 
 crossed with a broad black band near the tips, the outer feather 
 on either side having a small black dot near the margin of the 
 inner web, the tips of all white, of less extent on the two central 
 feathers ; forehead whitish, sides of the face and ear-coverts 
 greyish — a blackish oblique stripe occasionally tinged with rufous, 
 on either side of the throat from the lores to opposite the ear- 
 coverts ; throat and all the under surface white ; the chest, sides, 
 and flanks washed with pale rufous, and having narrow shaft- 
 lines of tawny-rufous, which become blackish on the tips of the 
 feathers, widening into a narrow streak on the flanks ; axillaries 
 white with blackish brown stripe down the centre ; under surface 
 of the wings white, the blackish markings of the upper surface 
 showing through, the tips brown. Bill bluish horn-colour — 
 blackish at the tips — the base of the lower mandible yellowish ; 
 cere, orbits, and legs yellow ; iris, hazel. Total length 12*5 
 inches, wing 9*4, tail 6, tarsus 1*55, bill 0*7, culmen 0*8. 
 
 Adult female. Similar to the male, but having the head, rump, 
 and tail rufous, of the same tint as the body, the upper tail- 
 coverts tinged with bluish-grey towards the tip ; tail rufous, the 
 outer feathers of a paler tint, the inner webs white towards the 
 base, all the feathers crossed with narrow alternate bars, and a 
 sub terminal broad band of black, and tipped with white, to a 
 greater extent on the outer ones, the shafts reddish brown ; the 
 whole of the head and neck striped with shaft-lines of black, 
 widening into somewhat triangular-shaped markings on the 
 interscapular region, smaller scapulars and median wing-coverts 
 having a triangular spot of black near the tip, the secondaries 
 and larger scapulars barred on both webs with black ; shoulders 
 and smallest wing-coverts with a broad lanceolate stripe down 
 the centre ; a short broad stripe of blackish tinged with 
 rufous, on either side of the throat from the lores ; facial features 
 more distinct than in the male ; the forehead, throat, and whole 
 of the under surface white, the chest, sides, and flanks washed 
 with pale rufous ; more of the feathers striped than in the male. 
 Total length 13*2 inches, wing 105, tail 6*6, tarsus 1*65, bill 
 0 7, culmen 0 8. 
 
 Young. The young of both sexes resemble the adult females, 
 but have the under surface of a dull white and a more extended 
 wash of rufous on the chest and sides, and the stripes more 
 numerous ; no tinge of bluish-grey on the upper tail coverts. 
 
 Habitat. The whole of the eastern and southern parts of 
 Australia. 
 
 A. 1. $ ad. sk. Port Augusta, South Australia. 
 
 A. 2. $ ad. sk. N.S. Wales. 
 
 B. 1. Semi-adult $ skn. Mudgee, N.S. Wales. 
 
 B, 2. Semi-adult ? rnntd. 1ST.S. Wales. 
 
62 
 
 PANDIONES. 
 
 Suborder PANDIONES. 
 
 Outer toe reversible ; toes devoid of feathers ; eyes placed 
 laterally in the head ; no facial disc ; plumage very close and com- 
 pact, nostrils not concealed by bristles. 
 
 Key to the Genera . 
 
 a. Distance between tips of primaries and 
 
 secondaries greater than length of 
 tarsus 
 
 b, Distance between tips of primaries and 
 
 secondaries less than length of tarsus... 
 
 15. PANDION. 
 
 Type. 
 
 Pandion, Savign. Descr. Fgypte , Ois ., p. 272 (1809) P. haliaetus. 
 
 Trior ches, Leach , Syst. Cat. Mamm ., Sfc ., Brit. Mus. 
 
 p. 10 (1816) P. haliaetus. 
 
 Balbusardus, Fleming , Brit. An. p. 51 (1828) P. haliaetus. 
 
 Bill short, culmen curved from the base to the tip, which is 
 hooked and acute ; the sides compressed, and the lateral margins 
 slightly festooned ; the nostrils moderate, sublinear, and rather 
 oblique ; wings reaching to the tip of the tail, with the second 
 and third quills equal and longest ; tail moderate, and rather 
 even ; tarsi short, very strong, and entirely covered with reticu- 
 lated scales ; toes long, much padded beneath, and united at the 
 base to the middle toe, mostly covered above with small scales, 
 the claws very long, much curved and rounded beneath. 
 
 Bange. All parts of the world, except the southern portion 
 of South America. 
 
 Pandion. 
 
 Polioaetus. 
 
 1. Pandion haliaetus. 
 
 The Osprey. 
 
 Subsp. a — Pandion leucocephalus. 
 
 The Australian or White-headed Osprey. 
 
 Pandion leucocephalus, Gould , Syn. B. Austr., pt. iii. pi. 6 (1838) ; 
 Gray , Gen. B. i. p. 17 (1845) ; Gould , B. Austr. i. pi. 6 
 (1848) ; Bp. Consp. Av. i. p. 16 (1850) ; Strickl. Orn. Syn. 
 p. 65 (1855) ; Gould , ILand-blc. B. Austr. i. p. 15 (1869) ; 
 Schl. Vog. JSederl. Ind., pp. 12, 52, pi. 3, fig. 3 (1866) ; Wall , 
 Ibis, 1868 p. 15 ; Gray , JELand-l. B. i. p. 15 (1869). 
 
 Pandion gouldii, Kaup , Isis (1847) p. 270. 
 
 Pandion haliaetus, Subsp. a ., P. leucocephalus, Sharpe , Brit . 
 Mus. Cat. Accip. i. p. 451 (1874), 
 
15. PANDION. 
 
 63 
 
 Adult. Upper surface of the body, wings, and tail, glossy 
 brown, the feathers mesially shaded with a darker tint, many of 
 the feathers of the interscapular region, back, scapulars and 
 shoulders margined with white; primaries blackish brow T n, black 
 at the tip past of the notch, the inner web becoming white on 
 the margin towards the base, some showing remains of brown 
 bars ; a few of the inner primaries, some of the adjacent secon- 
 daries and wing-coverts, narrowly margined with buffy white ; 
 under surface of the wdngs white, the outer series of the under- 
 coverts blotched with brown ; feathers along the outer margin of 
 the wing from the elbow to the base of the primaries, dark brown 
 margined with white, under surface of the secondaries and of the 
 primaries past the notch ashy-brown, the basal marginal portion 
 of the inner webs white barred down the centre portion w r ith 
 brown ; head, throat, and back of the neck white, a few feathers 
 on the nape having a streak of blackish brown down the centre ; 
 lores blackish iead-colour ; ear-coverts blackish brown, which 
 color extends on to the sides of the neck, where the feathers 
 are brown margined with white ; chest, breast, and the lower 
 part of the hind-neck white, much mottled wdth brown on the 
 tips of the feathers, and occasionally centred wdth a blackish 
 stripe ; the remainder of the under surface, thighs and under tail- 
 coverts white ; tail above brown, feathers narrovdy margined at the 
 tips with white, the inner webs of a lighter browm, all except the 
 tw r o centre quills broadly margined and toothed with white 
 towards the base; under surface of the tail ashy-white, tips of 
 the feathers ashy margined with white ; bill black ; legs and feet 
 lead-blue ; iris yellow* Total length 25 5, wing 20*, tail 9, 
 tarsus 2*5, bill T7 # , from nostril 1*2, culmen T95. 
 
 Ohs. — In some specimens, apparently fully adult, the whole of 
 the breast, chest, and sides of the neck are strongly mottled with 
 brown, and the feathers centred wdth a blackish stripe ; the 
 under wing-coverts are barred wdth brown ; the scapulars, upper 
 wing-coverts, and quills scarcely if at all margined with white ; in 
 others the whole of the head and neck, except the ear-coverts and 
 sides of the neck immediately behind them, is white, without any 
 brown markings, and the dull browm on the chest takes no 
 definite form, but is for the most part darkest on the centre of 
 the feathers. 
 
 Young. “ Glossy chocolate-brown, all the feathers terminally 
 margined with buffy wdiite, these margins somewhat tinged with 
 rufous, and broadest on the secondary quills and upper tail- 
 coverts ; crown of head black, wdth white or fulvous margins to 
 the feathers, giving a distinctly streaked appearance ; nape white, 
 
 * The length of the bill varies considerably, some specimens, measured from 
 the anterior margin of the cere, being only T2, others 1*35. 
 
 T 
 
64 
 
 PANDIONES. 
 
 not streaked ; from behind the eye a broad line of white runs 
 down the side of the neck, slightly streaked with black ; below 
 this another line of black feathers, including the ear-coverts, is 
 conterminous ; sides of face and entire under parts pure white, 
 somewhat tinged here and there with yellowish-buff ; under wing- 
 coverts white, the outer ones strongly washed with tawny buff* 
 and crossed with broad bars of dark brown ; primaries black, 
 secondaries chocolate-brown like the back, and tipped in the 
 same manner, all of them whitish at base of inner web, indis- 
 tinctly barred with pale brown ; tail feathers alternately barred 
 with dark sepia-brown and ashy brown, tipped, with whitish and 
 having whitish shafts ; the bars six in number, and more distinct 
 on the inner web, which is b uffy- white. 
 
 Range. Over the whole of sea-board of Australia, New Guinea, 
 and adjacent islands. 
 
 A. 1 2 ad. sk. King George’s Sound. 
 
 A. 2 A ad. mntd. New South Wales. 
 
 A. 3 ? ad. mntd. New South Wales. 
 
 Ik 1 $ sk. King George’s Sound. 
 
 * Young . — Not having a young specimen of the Australian Gsprev, I have 
 transcribed this description from the British Museum Catalogue of 1874. 
 
ALPHABETICAL INDEX 
 
 Accipitres, 1. 
 
 Accipitrinae, 2. 
 
 Accipifcer, 3, 18, 19. 
 iEgipius, 59. 
 iEsalon, 47. 
 affinis (Milvus), 37. 
 albus (Falco), 11. 
 albus (Astur), 11. 
 albirostris (Aquila), 25. 
 albicillus (Haliaetus), 31. 
 approximans (Accipiter), 
 13. 
 
 approximans (Astur), 13. 
 approximans (Nisus), 13. 
 approximans (Circus), 6. 
 approximans (Urospiza), 
 
 13. 
 
 Aquila, 22, 25, 28. 
 Aquilastur, 27. 
 
 Aquilinae, 2, 21. 
 assimilis (Circus), 4, 6. 
 Astur, 3, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 
 15, 16, 17. 
 
 Asturinula, 23. 
 audax (Aquila), 25. 
 auclax (V ultur), 25. 
 audax (Uroaetus), 25. 
 australis (Nisus), 19. 
 axillaris (Elanus), 41. 
 axillaris (Falco), 41. 
 axillaris (Circus), 41. 
 Avicida, 45, 46. 
 
 Balbusardus, 62. 
 
 Baza, 44, 45. 
 berigora (Hieracidea), 55, 
 57. 
 
 berigora occidentalis (Fal- 
 co), 55. 
 
 berigora (Falco), 55, 57. 
 berigora orientalis (Falco), 
 
 57. 
 
 Blagrus, 30. 
 blagrus (Haliaetus), 30. 
 blagrus (Falco), 30. 
 blagrus (Pandion), 30. 
 blagrus (Pontoaetus), 31. 
 blagrus (Ichthyaetus), 31. 
 Butaetus, 27, 28. 
 
 Butastur, 23, 
 
 Buteo, 40. 
 
 Buteoninee, 2. 
 
 caleyi (Haliaetus), 16. 
 candidum (Daodalion), 11. 
 canorus (Haliaetus), 35. 
 canorus (Ictinoaetus), 35. 
 cenchroides (Falco), 60. 
 cenchroides (Tinnunculus), 
 60. 
 
 cenchroides ( Cerchneis) , 60. 
 Cerchneis, 59. 
 
 Chicquera, 47. 
 chicquera (Falco), 47. 
 cineraceus (Circus), 4. 
 cinereus (Astur), 9. 
 cinereus (Sparrius), 9. 
 Circaetus, 23. 
 
 Circus, 3, 4, 6, 41. 
 cirrliocephala (Urospizia), 
 3 . 9 . 
 
 cirrhocephalus (Accipiter), 
 
 39. 
 
 cirrhocephalus (Sparvius), 
 
 JL9. 
 
 cirrhocephalus (Nisus), 19. 
 clarus (Falco), 11. 
 coeruleus (Elanus), 41. 
 communis (Falco), 47, 48. 
 Cooperastur, 18. 
 cruenta (Urospiza), 15. 
 cruentus (Astur), 15. 
 cruentus (Urospizia), 15. 
 cruentus (Accipiter), 15. 
 
 cuculoides (Baza), 45. 
 cultrunguis (Ichthyaetus), 
 30. 
 
 Cuncuma, 30, 31. 
 cuneicaudata (Aquila), 25. 
 cyaneus (Circus), 4. 
 
 Dsedalion, 8, 11. 
 Dendrofalco, 47. 
 
 Dentiger, 33. 
 dimidiatus (Falco), 30. 
 dimidiatus (Haliaetus), 30 
 Dissodectes, 59. 
 Dryotriorchis, 23. 
 
 Erylhrocnema, 3. 
 Elanoides, 24. 
 
 Elanus, 24, 41, 43. 
 Eutolmaetus, 27. 
 Erythropus, 59. 
 Erytlirotriorchis, 8, 16. 
 
 Falcones, 1. 
 
 Falconida?, 2. 
 
 Falconinae, 2, 44. 
 
 Falco, 11, 13, 16, 19, 25, 
 30, 33, 41, 44, 47, 48, 49, 
 
 50, 55, 57, 60. 
 
 Falcula, 59. 
 fasciatus (Astur), 13. 
 fasciatus (Nisaetus), 27. 
 fasciatus (Entolmaetus), 
 
 27. 
 
 fasciatus (Pseudaetus), 27. 
 fasciatus (Aquilastur), 27. 
 frontatus (Falco), 51. 
 frontatus (Hypotriorchis), 
 
 51. 
 
 franciscse (Astur), 8. 
 fucosa (Aquila), 25. 
 fucosus (Falco), 25. 
 fueosus (Uroaetus), 25. 
 
2 
 
 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 
 
 Gampsonyx, 24. 
 
 Gennaia, 47, 49. 
 Geranospizias, 3. 
 Glaueopteryx, 4. 
 girrenera (Haliastur), 33. 
 girrenera (Haliaetus), 33. 
 gouldii (Circus), 6. 
 gouldii (Paudion), 62. 
 Gypaetus, 22. 
 
 Gypohierax, 23. 
 Gypoictinia, 24, 40. 
 
 Haliaetus, 16, 23,30,33,35. 
 haliaetus (Paudion), 62. 
 haliaetus (Triorchis), 62. 
 haliaetus (JBalbusardus), 
 
 62. 
 
 Haliastur, 23, 33, 35. 
 Harpa, 44. 
 
 Harpagus, 44. 
 
 Helotarsus, 23. 
 Henicopernis, 24. 
 Herpetotheres, 23. 
 Hieracidea, 45, 55, 57. 
 Hieraspiza, 18. 
 
 Hieraetus, 27. 
 
 Hierofalco, 45, 49, 50. 
 Hydroictinia, 37. 
 hypoleucus (Gennaia) 49. 
 hypoleucus (Falco), 49. 
 hypoleucus (Hierofalco) 49. 
 Hypotriorchis, 47, 51. 
 
 Ichthyaetus, 30, 31. 
 Ictinoaetus, 33, 35. 
 
 Ictinia, 44. 
 
 Ieracidea, 55. 
 
 Ierax, 18. 
 
 indus (Haliastur), 33. 
 indus (Haliaetus), 33. 
 isura (Lophoictinia), 38. 
 isurus (Milvus), 38. 
 
 jardinii (Circus), 4. 
 jardinii (Spilocircus), 4. 
 jardinii (strigiceps), 4. 
 jugur (Falco), 47. 
 jugur (Gennaia), 47. 
 
 korschun (Milvus), 37. 
 korschun (Hydroictinia), 
 37. 
 
 Lepidogenys, 45. 
 
 Leptodon, 24. 
 leucaetus (Falco), 11. 
 leucocephalus (Pandion), 
 62. 
 
 leucogaster (Blagrus), 31. 
 leucogaster (Cuncuma), 31. 
 leucogaster (Falco), 30. 
 leucogaster (Haliaetus), 30. 
 leucogaster (Ichthyaetus) , 
 
 30. 
 
 leucogaster (Polioaetus), 
 
 31. 
 
 leucogaster (Pontoaetus), 
 30. 
 
 leucosomus (Astur), 12. 
 Leucospiza, 8, 9. 
 leucosternon (Gypoictinia), 
 40. 
 
 leucosternus (Haliastur) , 
 33. 
 
 leucosternus (Ictinoaetus), 
 33. 
 
 leucosternus (Haliaetus), 
 33. 
 
 Lithofalco, 47. 
 longipennis (Falco), 51. 
 Lophoaetus, 23. 
 Lophoictinia, 24, 38. 
 Lophospiza, 8. 
 
 Lophotes, 45. 
 lophotes (Baza), 45. 
 lophotes (Lepidogenys) , 45. 
 lophotes (Hytiopus), 45. 
 Lophotriorchis, 22. 
 lunulatus (Falco), 51. 
 lunulatus (Sparvius), 51. 
 lunulatus (Hypotriorchis), 
 51. 
 
 Macheirhamplius, 25. 
 macropus (Falco), 48. 
 maculosus (Circus), 4. 
 maculosus (Spilocircus), 4. 
 melanogenys (Falco), 48. 
 melanops (Accipiter), 19. 
 melanopterus (Elanus), 41. 
 melanosterna (Gypoic- 
 tinia), 40. 
 
 melanosternon (Buteo), 40. 
 melanosternon (Gypoic- 
 tinia), 40. 
 
 Melierax, 3. 
 
 Micrastur, 3. 
 
 Microhierax, 44. 
 migrans (Milvus), 37. 
 Milvaquila, 33. 
 
 Milvus, 24, 35, 37, 38. 
 morphnoides (Aquila), 28. 
 morphnoides (N isaetus) ,28. 
 morphnoides (Hieraetus), 
 28. 
 
 morphnoides (Butaetus), 
 28. 
 
 Nauclerus, 24. 
 naumanni (Tinnunculus), 
 59. 
 
 Neopus, 22. 
 
 Nisaetus, 22, 27. 
 
 Nisoides, 3. 
 
 Nisus, 13, 16, 18, 19. 
 nisus (Accipiter), 18. 
 nisus (Falco), 19. 
 niveus (Sparvius), 11. 
 notatus (Elanus), 41. 
 novse-hollandise (Astur), 8, 
 9, 11, 12, 
 
 novee-hollandiee (Falco), 
 
 11 . 
 
 novse-hollandise (Leucos- 
 piza), 8, 11. 
 
 occidentals (Hieracidea), 
 55. 
 
 occidentals (Falco), 55. 
 orientalis (Falco), 57. 
 orientalis ( Hieracidea) ,57. 
 
 pacificus (Milvus), 38. 
 palumbarius (Astur), 8. 
 Pandion, 30, 62. 
 
 Pandiones, 1, 62. 
 Pannyschistes, 59. 
 pennatus (Nisaetus), 27. 
 perigrinus (Falco), 48. 
 Pernis, 25, 46. 
 
 Poecilornis, 59. 
 
 Polioaetus, 31, 62. 
 Poliohierax, 44. 
 Polyborinse, 2. 
 Polyboroides, 3. 
 Pontoaetus, 30, 31. 
 ponticerianus (Falco), 33. 
 Pseudaetus, 27. 
 
 Pterocircus, 4. 
 
 Pygarus, 4. 
 pygarus (Circus), 4. 
 
 regalis (Milvus), 37. 
 radiata (Urospiza), 13. 
 radiatus (Accipiter), 17. 
 radiatus (Astur), 13, 16, 
 17. 
 
 radiatus (Falco), 13, 16. 
 radiatus (Nisus), 16. 
 radiatus (Sparvius), 16. 
 radiatus (Erythrotriorchis), 
 
 17. 
 
ALPHABETICAL INHEX. 
 
 radiatus (Urospizias), 17. 
 rayi (Leucospiza), 9. 
 Rostbramus, 24. 
 
 Scelospiza, 8. 
 seriptus (Elanus), 43. 
 Sparvius, 8, 9, 11, 16, 19, 
 51. 
 
 sphenurus (Haliaetus),30, 
 35. 
 
 sphenurus (Haliastur), 35. 
 sphenurus (Milyus), 35. 
 Spilocircus, 4. 
 
 Spilornis, 23. 
 
 Spizaetus, 22. 
 
 Spizacircus, 4. 
 Spiziapteryx, 44. 
 Spiziasfcur, 22. 
 
 Striges, 1. 
 
 Strigiceps, 4. 
 
 subbuteo frontatus (Falco) , 
 
 51. 
 
 subcristata (Avicida), 46. 
 subcristata (Baza), 45, 46. 
 subcristatus (Pernis), 46. 
 subcristatus (Lepidogeny s) , 
 
 45. 
 
 subniger (Falco), 50. 
 subniger (Hierofalco), 50. 
 Tachyspiza, 8. 
 
 Teraspiza, 18. 
 testaceus (Astur), 17. 
 Thalassoaetus, 30. 
 Tichornis, 59. 
 
 Tinnunculus, 45, 47, 59, 
 60. 
 
 Tolmaetus, 27. 
 torquata (Urospiza), 19. 
 torquatus (Accipiter), 19 
 tricolor (Urospizia), 17. 
 Triorcbes, 62. 
 
 Turumtia, 47. 
 
 Uroaetus, 22, 25. 
 Urospiza, 8, 13, 15, 19. 
 Urospizia, 15, 17, 19. 
 Urospizias, 8, 17. 
 Urotriorchis, 3. 
 
 Vultur, 25. 
 
 Vulturid®, 2. 
 
 wolfi (Circus), 6. 
 
 Sydney : Thomas Richards, Government Printer.— 1876. 
 

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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 598.2AU78C C001 V001 
 
 CATALOGUE OF THE AUSTRALIAN BIRDS IN THE