OKTIIOIJAMl'IH S. 251 



on the iitner^ th'' hiinj i)i U'riiwut aecdiiilttfi^.^ ami srn/iiiJiij-ft /(/.v (//•; hack ; lai/-/fia!hi;is pale hronyti, 

 crossed with a sdhinarcjiiial hand of ir/ii/r and tipjuil irith hlackinli-hraiun, (In- lali'.ral feathers ahnast 

 enlirrlij trliiti' and tipjoil n-ilh blackish hrmcn : lorc.i hiack : leathers armmd the I'ljp^ e.ccept in front, 

 and coniiiint'd in a broad hand un the sides of the head, ivliile, surronndcil abi/re and belong from the 

 frres hij another Ixind of hhick ; ear-rorerfs hIack ; feathers at the base of the tipper laandible, ami 

 continniny in aline across the c/ieeks, c/iin ami throat, ichite, irilh a short blackish hroian streak 

 belom the yape : lon-er throat and all the nnder surface pale hroivuish-yrei/, the. feathers of the former 

 harini/ a distinctli/ darker hrotrn shaft streak ; abdmnen and under taileorerts pule biiff ; "base of 

 the bill stiJp/inri/e!lon\ ii'hich colour Is cont miied alomj the sides of the n.pj)er mandible above the 

 ■nostrils; rrniai mler of the lull black : tibia honon i/elloir ; tarsi and feet ivine i/elloir, the np/ier ridye 

 <d the scales of the toes lead'Colonr : iris //ale i/ell<in\" ((_iou\d). Total lenyth 't)'> inches, iriny lO'S, 

 tail .'p-'t, bill ->, tat'siis J -i. 



Al)Ur,T KEMAM-;. — Similar in plnmaye to the male. 



Diitiibution. — North-western Australia, Northern Territory, ()aeensland. 



^"|^III'2 Large-billed Shore-Plover occurs at intervals along the coasts of North-western 

 JL Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, its ultra-Australian range, according 

 to the late Dr. R. B. Sharpe in the "Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum," being New 

 Guinea and the adjacent islands, New Caledonia, the Admiralty, Solomon and Aru Islands to 

 the Tenimber Group, Borneo, Little Cocos Island and the Andaman Islands. It is exclusively 

 a shore-frequenting species, inhabiting also the sandy bays and flats of tidal rivers. In North- 

 western Australia Mr. Tom Carter has observed it as far south as Point Cloates, where he found 

 it breeding. Mr. E. J. Cairn and the late Mr. T. II. Bowyer-Bower procured specimens near 

 Derby, and in " Novitates Zooliigidr " L)r. E. Hartert has recorded specimens from Lewis 

 Island. The late Mr. Edward Spalding obtained examples at Port Darwin, and Gould noted 

 its eggs taken at Port Essington, in the Northern Territory. It has been recorded by many 

 observers on the eastern coast of Oueensland, the late Mr. George Masters obtaining it at Cape 

 Grenville and Long Island. Mr. Frank Hislop has found it breeding near the entrance of the 

 Bloomfield River. Dr. E. P. Ramsay has recorded it in his " List of Birds met with in North- 

 eastern (Queensland," 'and where he remark's : — " ,\ pair of Hsaciis mai^iiirnslris frequented the 

 sand-spits in the neighbourhood of Cardwell during the time of my visit; they proved too wary 

 to be approached within gun-shot ; the white on the wings shows very conspicuously in flight. 

 It is not a rare species, but always \ery difhcult to obtain when found near any of the settlements." 

 Mr. Thos. P. .Austin found it breeding on Temple Island, and has an egg m his collection taken 

 at Cape Palmerston, near Mackay, Oueensland. 



There is a \'ariation in the extent of the white markings on the quills and tail-feathers of 

 the Large-hilled Stone I'lover. On some specimens the inner web only of the second and third 

 primaries is crossed with white on the apical portion, on others the outer web also is white 

 next the shaft, while some of the white inner primaries are more or less marlced or tipped with 

 greyish-brown. On the central tail-feathers of some specimens both the white submarginal 

 band and blackish-brown tip is almost obsolete, while others have the white-based lateral feathers 

 streaked with pale brown obliquely across the basal portion of the shaft. 



Mr. Frank Hislop wrote as follows respecting this species in the Bloonilield River District, 

 North-eastern Queensland :—" The Large-billed Shore Plover is not very common in this 

 district. .A pair is generally found during the nesting season at the mouth of a small inlet, 

 about six miles north of the Bloonilield River. They are very shy birds, and it is almost 

 impossible to stalk them. I have only found one nest, which consisted of a slight hollow in the 

 sand ; it was among the branches of a fallen tree, about twenty yards above high water mark, 



* I'roc. Zool. Soc, 1877, p. 335. 



