Vol. VI. 1 B-ER^-EY, Birds of the Richmond District, N.Q. m 



1907 I ' ' J s/ 



they are very smart in seeking shelter and making the most of it on what 

 is practically bare ground, tucking themselves away into the impression of 

 a beast's hoof made during the wet, or crouching close against a small lump 

 of earth that is not as big as themselves ; or, again, should there be no 

 refuge on the surface, they do not hesitate to go down the gaping cracks in 

 the ground with which the parched downs are reticulated. 



Particulars of four birds that have come into my hands are as fol- 

 lows : — - 



No. Ill was immature, and No. 113 was fully adult. When laid on their 

 backs, with wings pressed close to the sides, the longest primary of No. in 

 did not reach to within half an inch of the point of the toes, while in No. 

 113 it extended half an inch beyond. In immature specimens the first 

 primary is coniparatively rounded, while in adults it is much drawn out 

 towards the extremity and sharply pointed. Food consists of insects of all 

 sorts, generally grasshoppers, small beetles, and ants, but mostly grass- 

 hoppers ; the stomachs of odd individuals may contain a small quantity of 

 vegetable matter. 



Oriental Pratincole {Glareola orienfalis). — As far as concerns this 

 particular district, G. orientalis is a most uncertain and irregular migrant, 

 and therefore a most unsatisfactory bird to observe. It is usually a late 

 arrival, seldom putting in an appearance before the middle of December, 

 though in 1903 it showed up in some numbers on 5th November. They 

 do not remain long with us ; the latest date that I have seen them is 14th 

 February, 1903 — the same year as above, be it noted, but a different season. 

 Some years they do not show up at all, and others we get a call from the 

 spring wave going south, but see nothing of them on their return journey. 



Red-kneed Dottrel \Erythrogoiiys (inctiis). — An occasional visitor 

 that never seems to settle down and make itself at home. " You are likely to 

 come across it during any month of the twelve, but it certainly favours the 

 period November to April, though, curiously enough, the most 1 ever saw 

 together — ten on one comparatively small waterhole — was in August. Usually 

 they are seen singly or in pairs, rarely four or five together. 



Masked Plover {Lobivanelhis iiiilcs). — Another occasional visitor, as 

 likely to be seen one month as another. I think it is rare for them to nest 

 here, as they seldom remain long enough to give themselves time, but I -am 

 glad to be able to report their having done so this year. On the loth April, 

 while driving a mob of four or five thousand sheep along the margin of a 

 swamp, I disturbed half a dozen pairs of these Plovers, all of which I ;im 

 certain were nesting. I found four nests, three containing four eggs each 

 and one with a single ^gg. • 



As the host of sheep advanced the birds came out to meet it, uttering their 

 loud cry ; gradually falling back, they took up their stand facing the foe, 

 right on the edge of their nests. One step backwards would have put them 

 on the eggs. Extending their wings, they displayed the full expanse of their 

 white front, and clamorously — very clamorously— defied all and sundry to 

 come on. (I should like to have caught the picture with a snap-shot.) Even 

 when I went up to personally investigate they declined to do anything more 

 than retire a lew yards at a dignified walk, loudly complaining all the time. 

 However, they had no cause for complaint — I did not rob them. In each 

 instance the eggs rested on the bare ground within a depression, with a 

 considerable quantity of nesting material— dry stalks of grass and herbage— 



