^'ESTS AND EGGS OF AVSTRAUAN BIRDS. ;r83 



Xestt. — A hollow in the bare gi-ound at tlu' edge of a flat adjoining a 

 salt marsh or a swamp. 



E(j()». — Clutch, three to foiu-. rarety five ; pear-shaped or pyriform ; 

 texture of shell fine ; surface glossy ; colour, varies from ycllowsli-olive 

 to gi-eenish oUve, spotted and blotched with umber or dark-brown, or 

 olive of different shades, and dull gi-eyish-black. Some exceptions are 

 light yello\vish-stone in colour, marked with olive and dull-slate, and 

 resemble those in miniature of the Stone Plover ( Burhimis). 

 Dimensions in inches of a clutch: (1) 1-78 x 1-25, (2) 174 x 1-23, 

 (3) 1-74 X 1-22. 



Ohxervafiiiiix. — This is tiic northern cousin of the Wattled or Spur- 

 winged Plover, and is found in the north portion of Australia, appre- 

 ciating the mangrove swamps as well as the plains of the Interior. The 

 Ma.sked Plover is similar in habits, size, and appeai-ance to the other 

 Plover, with the exception that the wattle on the face is more elongated 

 in shape, and the black on the back of the neck is absent. 



Our knowledge at present of the nidificatiou of this elegant Plover 

 is not extensive. Gould mentions the breeding season as August and 

 September, but doubtless it extends a month or two later, and in habits 

 represents its southern ally, the better knowir Spur-winged Plover. 

 However, the eggs of the Masked Plover are much smaller than we 

 would have expected to find, for the dimensions of a set I have given 

 from the Gulf of Cai-pentaria district are onlv about the size of the 

 Black-breasted Plover's eggs. In that district Dr. W. Macgillivi-ay 

 informs me that Masked Plovers are numerous, it lieing no uncommon 

 sight to see forty or fifty in a flock, and that they usually lay during 

 January or Febniary. 



Mr. Keartland writes : " Near the Fitzroy River (North-west), many 

 of these birds were seen, but when the rains fell they scattered to tlie 

 numerous swamps which were then formed. Their habits are precisely 

 similar to those of L. lohntus. Unfortunately the birds all disappeared 

 before I had, the opportunity of preser\-ing specimens. I am indebted 

 to Mr. Jas. Livingstone for a pair of eggs of this bird, which he obtained 

 near the river, on the, 8th March, 1897. They were taken from a slight 

 hollow in the ground, and were of a dull olive-yellow, heavily blotched 

 witli brownish-black markings." 



