branch at some distance from it, lowers its head, inflates its crop, and walks slowly into the nest. During the period of incubation, these birds, if molested, exhibit great courage and fierceness; towards the Screech Owl in particular they manifest an inveterate hatred, that leads to many deadly encounters. * * * * * The WEDGE-TAILED EAGLES (_Uroaëtos_) constitute a group of large birds that inhabit Australia. In shape and plumage they resemble the True Eagles, but are distinguishable from them by their elongated powerful beaks, long and abruptly-graduated tails, and by the lengthy feathers that adorn the back of the neck. [Illustration: BOLD WEDGE-TAILED EAGLES (_Uroaëtos audax_).] THE BOLD WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE. The BOLD WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE (_Uroaëtos audax_) is three feet one inch long, and about six feet eight inches broad. The back and sides of the throat are rust colour, the rest of the body blackish brown. The feathers of the wings and upper tail-covers are edged and tipped with pale brown. The eye is yellowish white, the beak is yellowish grey at its root, and yellow at the extremity; the feet are pale yellow. Another species or variety is also met with, more slender in form and paler in plumage than that above described. The Bold Wedge-tailed Eagles are common throughout Australia, where they frequent open plains and forests, preferring such localities as are inhabited by kangaroos. Gould tells us that all that has been said about the strength, courage, and rapacity of the Tawny Eagle may also be applied to these birds, whose unremitting attacks upon flocks of sheep are a cause of constant loss to the colonists; small kangaroos they destroy in great numbers, but rarely contend with such as are full grown. Gould also mentions having seen one of these Eagles pursuing a mother kangaroo with great patience, and watching for the moment when fatigue would compel her to empty the young from her pouch, and thus yield them an easy prey. From the same source we learn that they will eat carrion, and may often be seen perched thirty or forty at a time upon the carcase of an ox. The eyrie is built upon such high trees as to be almost inaccessible; in size it varies considerably, as it is enlarged and repaired from time to time by its owners, who return to the same nest for many successive years. The outer walls are formed of large boughs, these again are interwoven with smaller branches, and the interior lined with leaves and slender twigs. According to Ramsay, the breeding season is at the end of the summer. The eggs, two in number, are round and rough shelled, three inches long, and at the thickest part two inches and three-eighths in diameter; these are white, spotted with red, yellowish brown, or purple. Many forests contain the remains of large settlements made by these birds before the white man had penetrated into the interior of the country. The Bold Wedge-tailed Eagle is often taken young from the