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CIRCUS JARDINII, Goma
Jardine’s Harrier.

Circus Jardinii, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 141; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part ITT.

Tus very beautiful Harrier, which is distinouished f- eae : c
y be A : -h is distinguished from every other species of the genus at present known

: ge, 1s plentifully dispersed over every portion of New South Wales,
wherever localities favourable to the existence of the Harrier tribe occur
and luxuriant grassy flats between the hills in mount

Australian continent has not yet been ascertained

by the spotted character of its pluma

Ss, such as extensive plains, wastes,
ainous districts. The extent of its range over the
, and I have never observed it from any other portion of
the country than that mentioned above, nor do specimens occur in collections formed in ones parts.
In the third part of my “Synopsis of the Birds of Australia,” I e

xpressed an opinion that the Circus
assumilis of Messrs. Jardine and Selby’s ‘* Tllustrations of Ornitl

10logy” was merely the young of the present
species: this opinion, however, my visit to Australia proved to be erroneous; the Circus assimilis, as will be
seen on reference to the preceding plate, proving to be entirely distinct. The present noble bird has been
named in honour of Sir William Jardine, Bart., one of the authors of the work above mentioned ; and which,

 

as well as his other valuable publications connected with the science of ornithology, are well known to
every zoologist.

To describe the economy of the Jardine’s Harrier would be merely to repeat what has been said respecting
that of the former species. Like the other members of the genus, it flies lazily over the surface of the plains,
intently seeking for lizards, snakes, small quadrupeds and birds; and when not” pressed by hunger, reposes
on some dried stick, elevated knoll, or stone, from which it can survey all around. Although I observed
this species in all parts of the Hunter in summer, when others of the Fulconide were breeding, I did not
succeed in procuring its eggs, or obtain any satisfactory information respecting its nidification ; in all pro-
bability its nest is constructed on or near the ground, on the scrubby crowns of the low, open, sterile hills
that border the plains.

The sexes present considerable difference in size, but are very similar in their markings ; both are spotted,
but the female is by far the finest bird im every respect.

Crown of the head, cheeks and ear-coverts dark chestnut, each feather having a mark of brown down the
centre ; facial disc, back of the neck, upper part of the back, and chest uniform dark grey; lower part of the
back and scapulars dark grey, most of the feathers being blotched and marked at the tips with two faint spots
of white, one on each side of the stem; shoulders, under surface of the wing, abdomen, thighs and under
tail-coverts rich chestnut, the whole of the feathers beautifully spotted with white, the spots regularly dis-
posed down each web, and being largest and most distinct on the abdomen ; greater and lesser wing-coverts
brownish grey, irregularly barred and tipped with a lighter colour ; secondaries dark grey, crossed with
three narrow lines of dark brown, and tipped with a broad band of the same colour, the extreme tips being
paler ; primaries black for two-thirds of their length, their bases brownish buff; upper ae brown,
barred and tipped with greyish white ; tail alternately barred with conspicuous bands of dark brown and
grey, the brown band nearest the extremity being the broadest, the extreme tips greyish white d irides bright
orange-yellow ; cere olive-yellow ; bill blue at the base, black aa the culmen and tips ; legs yellow.

The young has the whole of the upper surface nearly uniform dark brown, the ul more numeronshy
barred, and the feathers of the chest and upper part of the abdomen striated, mstead of spotted with white:
in other respects it resembles the adults.

ale - the ; it two-thirds of the natural size.
The front figure represents the female and the other the male, abou

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