XESrS AXD EGGS Of AUSTA'AUAiV BIRDS. 795 



Oljxerriitioiit. — This, one of the smallest of our Dottrels, is readily 

 identified by its rusty-brown or red cap, from which it receives its name. 

 The rest of the plumage is white underneath and drab above. On the 

 forehead is a white band, then a black marking, before the bird dons 

 the red cap. The female is adorned with similar plumage, but in paler 

 shades. Tlie bill is somewhat short and dark ; likewise the legs dark ; 

 The total length is only 6 inches. 



Like Mr. A. J. North, I liad my introduction when a boy to this 

 Dotti-el, on the sand}' tracts interspersed with low sciiib that stretched 

 in those days between Santh'idge (now Port Melboiune) and St. Kilda, 

 but by the wonderful march of ci\'ilization these favoiu'ite breeding 

 groimds of the bird have long since been supplanted by a thriving 

 suburb, a railway station, and a military road. 



Although this endearing little shore wanderer loves the foreshore of 

 inland brackish lakes and backwatei-s, we observed a few members in 

 company with the Hooded Dottrel on the boisterous and exposed situa- 

 tions on King Island ; but nowhere have I seen the Red-capped Dottrel 

 more plentiful than on the great sweep of sandy beach in Geographe 

 Bay, Western Australia, where the eggs in doublets may be picked up for 

 the seeking. I was never fortunate enough to enjoy Mr. Noi-tli's 

 experience of picking up three eggs from the one nest of this species. 

 However, on the 25tli September, 1894, in Tasmania, Mr. C. D. Groom 

 saw a Red-capped Dottrel's containing four eggs, most probably the 

 lesult of two birds laying in the same nest. 



Although generally a coastal bird, instances are known of the eggs 

 having been taken in the Interior. The Calvert Expedition found Red- 

 capped Dottrels numerous near Lake Way, in the interior of the West. 



The breeding months, like those of the Hooded Dottrel, are from 

 September to January, November being the principal month. 



Tlie young in down is white underneath, and the upper parts are 

 mottled with yellowish-browai and black. 



My remarks on the Stone Curlew, with reference to the shai-jjer- 

 pointed egg being as a rule ^tlie longer of a pair, are again strikingly 

 illustrated in the Red-capped Dottrel. In four clutclies, selected at 

 random and measured, it will be seen there is only one exception 

 (clutch D) to the nile. 



612. — iEciALiTis MELANOPS, ViciUot. — (509) 

 ^E. nigrifrnns, Cuvier. 



BLACK-FRONTED DOTTREL. 



Fi!;ure. — Gould: Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi., pi. 20. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxiv., p. 300. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Gould : Birds of Australia (1S4S) , 



also Handbook, vol. ii., p. 233 (1865); Harting : Proc. Zool. 



Soc, p. 459, with hg. (1874) ; Ramsay : Proc. Zool. Soc, 



p. 336 (1877) ; North ; Austn. Mus. Cat., pi. 16, fig. 4 (1S89) ; 



Campbell : Proc. Austn. Assoc, vol. v., p. 435 (1893). 



Cleoc/rnphical Diatrihution. — Australia in general.* 



♦ Tasmania is included on the authority of Mr. W. L. May, Sandford, who 

 shot one of these Dottrels in 1896; unfortunately the bird was too much mutilated 

 to preserve the skin. 



