8o4 NESTS AXD EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



617. RUCURVIROSTRA NOV/E HOLLANDI.E, Vieillot. (519) 



RED-NECKED AVOCET. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi., pi. 27. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxiv., p. 333. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Ramsay : Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S. 

 W;i!e^, vol. vii. (1882); North: Austn. Mus. Cat., pi. 17, fig. 

 I (iSSql ; CampbtU : Proc. Austn Assoc, vol. v., p. 439 



Geograpliical Didrihiilitni. — Australia in general, and Tasmania; 

 also New Zealand. 



Nest. — Tlie bare ground, usually near water; occasionally bits of 

 vegetation define the nest. 



Eggs. — Clutch, four ; long oval in shape ; texture of shell somewhat 

 coarse ; surface lustreless ; colour, a shade of decp-stoue, or stone- 

 colour, with an olive tinge, moderately marked over the surface with 

 blotches and large spots, mostly roundish in form, of dark-brown; 

 also some duller markings of a slaty chai^acter appear under the shell's 

 surface. Dimensions in inches of a clutch : (1) 2-04 x r34, (2) 2-03 x r4, 

 (3) 1-92 X 1-28. (Plate 23.) 



The Avocet's and the Banded and White-headed Stilts' eggs are much 

 alike, but the Avocet's may be at once detected by their large size. 



Observations. — The Avocet is extremely like the Stilts, only that it 

 has its bill very much upturned, that organ i-esembling exactly a boot- 

 maker's awl. Its plumage is black and white, contrasted with a chestnut 

 head and neck, relieved by bright-red eyes, while the long legs are bluish- 

 green. Along with the, Stilts, the Avocet during the season is frequently 

 exposed for .sale in the Melboiuno shops, and its habitat includes 

 Australia in general and occasionally Ta.smania. It frequents the 

 shallows of lakes, mudbanks of estuaries, often wading, or readily 

 swimming if necessary. 



Mr. K. H. Bennett informed Dr. Ramsay that the breeding months 

 embrace September and December, that is for New South Wales, and 

 that he took the eggs, wliich Dr. Ramsay described, from among 

 the herbage usually seen growing about the sheep tanks in the Interior. 

 The Avocet sometimes breeds in large companies, as was the case when 

 my examples of eggs were gathered at Ulonga, about thirty miles from 

 Hay, Riverina, 1879. Mr. Bennett also found simiLir colonies breeding 

 on the margin of a lake in the Interior dm'ing the season 1887. 



During the autumn of 1900 small families of Avocets were found 

 breeding in Riverina (New South Wales'), and near the North-west 

 Cape. 



Avocets' eggs would appear to be rare in collections. 



