An Australian Bird Book Part 21

(Tropical Seas).

2 2

=149 Frigate-Bird=, Man-o'-war-Bird, _Fregata aquila_.

Stat. r. _ocean_ 40

Brownish-black; about eyes, pouch on throat deep red; variable in size, color; bill long, hooked; tail forked; wings very long; legs very short; f., browner; breast, flanks whitish.

Stolen fish, young turtles.

F. 63. PHAeTHONTIDAE(2), TROPIC BIRDS, Boatswain-Bird, Straw-Tails, 7 sp.--4(1)A., 4(1)O., 4(0)E., 3(0)Nc., 4(0)Nl.

F. 64. PELECANIDAE (1), PELICANS, 10 sp.--1(1)A., 4(1)O., 3(0)P., 3(1)E., 3(0)Nc., 4(1)Nl.

1 10

=150 Australian Pelican=, _Peleca.n.u.s conspicillatus_, N.G., A., T., N.Z. =vt. cos. bird.

c. _lagoons_, _bays_ 60

White; wings, tail black; bill pink, pouch yellowish; f., sim.

Fish, insects.

F. 65. _Cathartidae_, Condor, Turkey (American, New World) Vultures, 9 sp.--3(1)Nc., 8(6)Nl. The largest of flying birds.

The well-known Birds of Prey, so keen of eye, so rapid of flight, so fearless in courage, and so matchless in fight, have spread over almost the whole known world. The Eagles of one land are, therefore, much like the Eagles of another. The Harriers of England are practically identical with the Harriers of Australia and New Zealand, and, in fact, of almost any other land. The Falcon, so famous in mediaeval times, is practically identical with the Falcon of Australia and Tasmania. The Australian Fish Hawk is the universal Fish Hawk or Osprey, for there is probably but one Osprey, having an almost world-wide range. The naming of these birds, though, has been a stumbling-block to us. To Australians they are all Hawks--even our gigantic and glorious Eagle has been reduced to the ignominious level of an "Eaglehawk," though our male Eagle is the largest male Eagle known, outrivalling, as it does, both the Bald Eagle of America and the Golden Eagle of Europe. A source of confusion, too, has arisen from the introduction of so many of our popular names from America, Thus, the Gum-tree (Eucalypt) is not a Gum, the 'Possum is not the carnivorous Opossum of America, the Goanna is not the equivalent of the vegetarian American Iguana; the "Wild Cat" is not a Cat, nor is the "Native Bear" a Bear, nor even remotely related to one, nor is the Kestrel a Sparrowhawk. It is an American error in popular naming, which has given us the Kestrel as the equivalent of the American Sparrowhawk, while the Sparrowhawk of the ornithologist is the equivalent of the Sparrowhawk of Britain.

In one respect, we are unfortunate in this new land. No ma.s.s of a.s.sociation and tradition has yet had time to crystallize about our native animals and plants. Our poets have not been able to sing of our birds for want of names and knowledge. Little has been done beyond the giving and frequent altering of scientific names, and the misapplication of names of animals and plants living in other lands to often totally different animals and plants here, so that confusion has reigned supreme. However, in bird matters, at least, we are on a better footing, for the bird-lovers have provided a common, and in most cases an appropriate, name for each bird.

The American Bobolink and Chickadee are famous birds, chiefly on account of an appropriate name; so is the British Cuckoo, while its even more noisy, more common, and practically identical Australian cousin is still unknown, or rather was until recently. The introduction of Bird Day has already produced gratifying results. We need good descriptive names for our varied and beautiful birds--more children's and poets' names, and less of the deadly formal "Yellow-vented Parrakeet," "Blue-bellied Lorikeet," and "Warty-faced Honeyeater" for some of the most glorious of the world's birds.

The old Order _Raptores_--birds of prey--included Hawks and Eagles, and Owls. These are now placed in two orders as "Diurnal Birds of Prey"--Hawks, and "Nocturnal Birds of Prey"--Owls. They all seize prey with the very well-developed talons, and not with the bill. Hence they were called _Raptores_--seizing birds. They use these talons when flying, and do not catch prey in scrub, or very close to the ground, unless in a clear s.p.a.ce.

The two Harriers are typically Ground Hawks. The name is said to be derived from the habit these birds are said to possess of _harrying_ birds. They are generally called "Swamp Hawks," and may frequently be seen flying low over bushes, to beat birds out.

The Goshawks--_i.e._, Goosehawks--possibly received their name by confusion, as possibly a Falcon to hunt Geese was kept in olden days, but probably it was not this bird. Three of these birds are rare.

The White Goshawk is a fine bird, and is confined to Australia and Tasmania. The Australian Goshawk is said to be the only troublesome Hawk to the poultry farmer, and he bears a bad name generally. The Lesser Goshawk is a casual visitor in the Eastern States.

The Sparrowhawk of the ornithologist is much feared by small birds. He lurks in ambush, suddenly flashes out upon his prey, and is away with it instantly. The male is one of the smallest of Hawks. It is an almost universal rule in this order of birds that the females are larger, often much larger, than the males, and that there are several changes of plumage before the adult plumage is finally donned, so it is often a matter of difficulty to determine exactly the name of one of these birds.

Eagles are found the world over except in New Zealand. Our Eagle has the honor of being, as already stated, the largest Eagle in the world.

It is also of undoubted courage, as its specific name, _audax_ (bold) would lead one to suppose. It is, further, Gould says, of a "far more pleasing and elegant contour" than the Golden Eagle, the "pride and pest of the parish." Whoever heard of an Australian who was proud of his Eagle, though it is something to be proud of? Let our n.o.ble bird appear near a house, and there is a rush for a gun. On Eyre Peninsula we found the Eagles fed their young on rabbits, a serious pest in Australia.

The equivalent of our Sea Eagle is the White-headed or Bald Eagle of America, the female of which is the same length as the male of our Eagle, 38 inches. Many of these glorious Sea Eagles were floating, with their peculiar b.u.t.terfly-like flight, over the Brisbane River, and added much to our enjoyment of a recent bird excursion there. We found one nest on each island in the Capricorn Group. On Mast Head Island the nest was in a tree about 60 feet high. On tiny Erskine Island, where there were no big trees, it was built on the ground, though it had been added to until it is now over 6 feet high. The fully-feathered dark-brown young bird sat on the edge of the nest, and formed a good photographic subject. Eagles were ruthlessly slaughtered in the British Isles. There is a shadow of an excuse there, perhaps, with their game preserves, where rabbits and birds are bred for sporting purposes. These reasons do not exist here. But it is pleasing to find on record that, even there, "Lord Breadalbane, who died in 1862, thought that the spectacle of a soaring Eagle was a fitting adjunct to the grandeur of the Argylls.h.i.+re mountain scenery, and a good equivalent for the occasional loss of a lamb."

Though the Sea Eagle lives mainly on fish and refuse cast up by the sea, it is pitiful to read that, though this interesting, picturesque, and valuable bird was once common, not one is left on the mainland of Scotland. Could blind, unreasoning slaughter do more? Why kill a harmless bird? But it is not only harmless; it is of distinct value in its sphere in Nature. Hawks altogether are misunderstood and misjudged. It is doubtful if it pays a farmer, aye, even a poultry farmer, to shoot Hawks. They might steal a few chickens, but they do not live on them. They live mainly on rabbits, mice, rats, and insects.

The Whistling Eagle whistles while flying about in the fine large flight-houses of the Adelaide Zoological Gardens. One fine specimen accompanied the Federal trawler _Endeavour_ down Gladstone Harbor, but not far from sh.o.r.e, for it returned when we headed for the open ocean and the fairyland of the Great Barrier Reef.

Kites used to be excessively common about many English towns, where they acted as scavengers. The introduction of the shot-gun has exterminated them. They are world-wide in distribution, so what you read about European Kites will fit Australian Kites. They are, perhaps, the most graceful of flyers, gliding, soaring, hovering, and performing all sorts of aerial evolutions. The toy kites of our childhood were suggested by the flight of these once common birds.

Now, alas! they are very rarely seen. Being mainly insectivorous, they are invaluable birds, and we can ill spare them in this country, where insect life is so abnormally prolific.

The Black-breasted Buzzard is the third largest of our Diurnal Birds of Prey. It is a rare visitor in Southern Australia, but in seasons of drought it comes down from Central Australia.

The Falcon, which our ancestors trained for hawking, is almost identical with our Falcon, while our Little Falcon is, for its size, the "boldest and swiftest of all birds of prey," for it has been observed to decapitate a flying Duck with a blow of the edge of its wing. In Brisbane we had the pleasure of spending an interesting afternoon with Mr. J. Bell, who formerly practised falconry with trained Australian Falcons.

The Kestrel of Australia is almost identical with the Kestrel of Europe. You must have noticed with interest its habit of hovering. One incident of the 1909 Ornithologists' Congress will show that, even in the midst of a crowded city like Adelaide, it is possible for scientific work in ornithology to be done. While the Director of Education, Mr. A. Williams, Mr. Le Souef (ex-Pres., A.O.U.), Mr. A.

J. Campbell (Pres., A.O.U.), Mr. Robert Hall (Vice-Pres., A.O.U.), and myself were walking from the Education Office to Grote Street School, a Kestrel was seen on the gra.s.s in a small square. The members of the party were astonished to see the Kestrel rise carrying a bird, possibly a Sparrow, in its talons. Now, the interest of this observation is that most of our ornithologists were prepared to state that the Kestrel is entirely insectivorous, and never touches small birds. However, an observation in the heart of Adelaide is of value in this matter of scientific interest. This bird, unfortunately, is generally called the Sparrowhawk, a name which belongs to a much bolder Australian bird of prey (No. 157), which does eat small birds.

Kestrels are very fond of mice, and would, if allowed, spend time protecting the farmer's haystacks, but if a Kestrel comes near the farmhouse the gun is at once produced, and so the farmer loses the services of one of his best friends.

Jeffries and other Nature-lovers have written on the marvellous powers of hovering possessed by these birds. In fact, the Kestrel is frequently called the Windhover. In Australia Kestrels frequently nest in a hollow tree, but do not lay the usual white egg.

The Osprey is another example of bad naming. The word is said to be a corruption of Ossifrage, the "bone-breaker." As it feeds on fish, it has no big bones to break. It is spread from "Alaska to Brazil, Lapland to Natal, j.a.pan to Tasmania, and even out to the Pacific Isles," and it may be the same bird throughout, though Dr. Sharpe has allowed three species in the "_Handlist of Birds_." "_The A.O.U.

Check-list of North American Birds_, 1910," however, recognizes the North American bird as a sub-species only, so it is possible the Australian bird will be also listed as a sub-species when the Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union adopts its check-list in Sydney this year. These birds eat living fish, which they catch by plunging into the sea. Occasionally they drive their talons into too big a fish, and, not being able to withdraw them, are drowned.

Flinders, in his journal, wrote about the enormous nests he met on rocky points, and considered they were built by a great "Dinornis."

The Osprey and the White-bellied Sea Eagle, however, build on rocky points if no trees are available, and add to the nest each year. It is interesting to read in the Western Australian Year Book article on birds that the Government has placed an Osprey's nest in the cave district, "under the protection of the Cave Warden." A pleasing interest is growing in Australian nature in its many forms.

[Page 72]

[Ill.u.s.tration: [151] [152] [153] [154] [155] [156]]

ORDER XV.--ACCIPITRIFORMES, DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY.

F. 66. _Serpentariidae_, Secretary-Bird, 2 sp. E.

F. 67. _Vulturidae_, Vultures, 17 sp.--8(5)O., 6(0)P., 9(5)E.

F. 68. FALCONIDAE (29), HARRIERS, GOSHAWKS, EAGLES, FALCON, etc., 485 sp.--99 (86) A., 106(58)O., 70(19)P., 118(91)E., 53(17)Nc., 144(112)Nl.

2 18

=151 Spotted Harrier= (Jardine), Spotted Swamp-Hawk, _Circus a.s.similis_, Cel. to A., T.

Stat. c. _plains_ 22

Facial disc, hind-neck, back, chest dark-gray; crown rust-red streaked black; shoulders, rest of under rich-chestnut spotted white; tail barred dark-brown, gray; legs long, yellow; m., smaller, duller. Lizards, mice, small snakes, birds.

[Page 73]

=152* Allied Harrier= (Gould), Swamp-Hawk, Kahu, _C. gouldi_, A., T., N. Cal., Norfolk Is., Lord Howe Is., N.Z., Fiji =vt.

Eur. Marsh-Harrier.