256 Transactions. — Zoology. 



passes through Japan and China to the Malay Archipelago, 

 where it spreads into Australia, New Caledonia, and New 

 Zealand. In Australia it is distinctly migratory, while in 

 Tonga it is only a straggler, as it does not visit the islands 

 every year. In New Zealand it is doubtful under which 

 heading it should be placed, for our information about its 

 habits is too scanty, and we do not at present know whether 

 it is or is not an annual visitor to us. 



The spotted plover {Charadrius dominions)* is another 

 Siberian bird which migrates regularly to Australia, has 

 spread over Polynesia, and, according to Dr. Graffe, has- 

 become a resident at Tongatabu. In the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere it takes on its summer plumage in April, and changes 

 into the winter plumage in August or September. It is a 

 common bird in New Caledonia and Fiji, and Mr. E. L. Layard 

 says that in the former island he found, on the 20th April, 

 1877, a female followed by a couple of chicks a few days 

 old. But he also says the old birds attain their full breeding- 

 plumage in May, which is the same time as in the Northern 

 Hemisphere. It would seem from this that the breeding of 

 the bird in the island was what might be called " acci- 

 dental," and, as the birds have not been long enough to 

 change the time of breeding or of moulting, it is probable 

 that all are migrants, but that some delay moving northwards 

 until they have attained the breeding-plumage. 



Something the same probably happens in Australia, as 

 Mr. Gould says that the uniform black under-surface, which 

 is the complete breeding-plumage, is seldom seen there. And 

 all the specimens in the British Museum from the Malay 

 Archipelago, Australia, and Polynesia are in the winter 

 plumage. 



In New Zealand the bird is rare, having been only re- 

 corded a few times in the North Island, while for the first 

 time in history it made its appearance in the South Island 

 last summer. Mr. W. W. Smith says that he has seen a 

 good many in the Ashburton Eiver bed, the first he had 

 noticed for eighteen years. There is a specimen in the Can- 

 terbury Museum which was shot at Lake Ellesmere in 

 November, 1900 ; and I saw another specimen which had 

 been shot at the Bluff, in Southland. Two specimens shot 

 near Auckland early in December, 1880, were in winter 

 plumage, but showing signs of being about to put on their 

 summer dress. I The specimen in the Canterbury Museum is 

 in winter plumage, as also is the one shot at the Bluff; and 

 Mr. Smith says that the plumage of the birds in the Ashburton 



* This is called C. fulvus by many authors. 

 t Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xiv., p. 265. 



