Vol. XVIII. 1 Whitlock, Birds Breeding in Dampiev Archipelago. 247 



Demiegretta sacra. Reef-Heron. — Reef-Herons are found through- 

 out the Dampier Archipelago. The dark slate-coloured form is much 

 the commoner variety, and, though the white form was often present, 

 it did not occur in pairs. On an islet near Barrow Island I found 

 empty nests under slabs of sandstone thrown up by the heavy gales 

 which sometimes occur in these latitudes. On some of the islands 

 these slabs of rock are found in wall-like masses, and almost suggest 

 human agency in their construction. On Eaglehawk Island I found 

 a Reef-Heron's nest containing two fresh eggs under a huge rock, 

 one of many thrown up by some extra violent blow. My attention 

 was attracted to the nest by the anxiety of the parent birds, which 

 flew from rock to rock, uttering their harsh, guttural notes. I could 

 only reach the nest by lying down full length and half creeping into 

 the cavity. The nest was a small affair, chiefly constructed of sea- 

 weed. Date, 31st August. 



Butorides stagnatilis. Little [Mangrove-Bittern. — I never saw this 

 species far from the mangroves. It appears to be a shy, unobtrusive 

 bird, not much in evidence during daylight. There were old or 

 empty nests in the mangroves near our anchorage at Barrow Island, 

 and I took one fresh egg from a nest in another mangrove thicket at 

 the north end of the island. Date, 13th August. 



Haematopus (niger fuliginosus. Black Oyster-catcher. — Found on 

 all the islands, but less frequent than the Pied variety (//. longi- 

 rostris). I obtained several nests containing eggs. The nests were 

 mere hollows in the sand, and, as a rule, were excavated a little 

 above high water mark. The eggs were invariably two in number, 

 and seemed, on the average, to be larger than those of the Pied species. 

 I often had a difficulty to make the two species of Oyster-catchers 

 come up to a nest and own their eggs. Usually both species were 

 in sight. In one instance three Oyster-catchers' nests were close 

 together. As well as these species, a pair of Long-billed Stone-Curlews 

 was present. One pair of eggs presented a very unusual variety, 

 being not unlike those of the Stone-Curlew (Burhinus grallarius), and 

 I at first hoped they might belong to the larger species, but they were 

 eventually owned by a Pied Oyster-catcher. 



Haematopus longirostris. Pied Oyster-catcher. — Fairly common 

 throughout the Archipelago. Pairs were nesting on most of the 

 islands. I found nests both on the smooth, sandy shores and on 

 small patches of sand in rocky hollows. The earliest clutch I obtained 

 was one of three eggs on loth July. These were slightly incubated, 

 and exhibited the streaky varietv of eggs of this species. 



Esacus (Orthorhamphus; magnirostris. Long-billed Stone-Curlew. — ■ 

 Pairs of this fine species were found on several of the islands visited, 

 but it was not common. Usually the parents were accompanied by 

 a well-grown young bird, and in one case by a pair. Copious rains 

 had fallen during the preceding March. This species had evidently 

 bred soon afterwards. However, on revisiting the beach where I had 

 found the colony of Caspian Terns breeding on 5th July, I observed 

 a female bird of the present species quietly slipping down to the 

 tide-line. I easily tracked her footprints back to a nest — a mere 

 hollow in the sand, containing a single egg. 



^gialitis ruficapilla. Red-capped Dottrel. — A few pairs of this 

 species frequented the beach near my camp on Barrow Island. I 

 think they attempted to breed, as I found traces of nests and observed 



