420 Mr. E. P. Ramsay on Australian Oology. 



of grass or rushes, in a slight hollow made for their reception, 

 with occasionally a few blades of grass placed under and around 

 them, but as often as not without any sign of a nest. 



The ground-colour of the eggs varies from yellowish- and 

 olive-brown to bright deep olive-green, strongly marked with 

 spots, dots, and irregularly shaped blotches of dark blackish 

 brown, and yellowish brown, which latter appear beneath the 

 surface of the shell, the majority of the markings being towards 

 the larger end. They vary from 1*9 to 2 inches in length, and 

 from 1*3 to l"4in. in breadth. My brother has given me a most 

 beautiful set of the eggs of this species, in which the ground- 

 colour is of a bright deep olive-green, evenly spotted with deep 

 blackish-brown. The Spur-winged Plover shows great anxiety 

 for its eggs and young, fluttering off as you approach and using 

 all the enticing actions in its power to draw you away from the 

 spot ; should a horse, a cow, or any other quadruped approach, 

 it uses quite different means to save its treasures ; and by flying 

 up in the beast's face, and flapping it with its wings it quickly 

 produces the desired effect. 



6. Sarciophorus pectoralis (Cuvier). (PL IX. fig. 3.) 

 The habits and actions of this pretty species closely resemble 

 those of the Spur-winged Plover; it breeds during August and 

 the three following mouths, laying its eggs on the bare ground in 

 places similar to those chosen by the last-mentioned bird, but is 

 more local, and frequents drier tracts of country. I have fre- 

 quently met with flocks in the ploughed fields, where they would 

 be found sitting down and basking in the sun, or in a long 

 string in the shade of a fence. In their flight they differ 

 greatly from their ally, and are seldom heard except when flushed 

 or separated. At night they separate and spread about over the 

 fields in search of food. 



The eggs of this species are four in number, 1'7 in. in length by 

 1-2 in. in breadth. Some specimens vary to the extent of a tenth 

 either way. The ground-colour is a light olive-brown, tinged 

 with yellowish- or greenish-olive, spotted with brown and grey, 

 which latter appears beneath the surface of the shell. In some 

 the spots incline to reddish brown, and are equally dispersed 



