AN AUSTRALIAN BIRD BOOK. 



51 



Beautiful mottled dotted; crown dark-brown, with buff 

 iine; throat, cbest dark, chin lighter; wing brown, 

 spotted black, white, buff; abdomen white; long 

 straight bill 1.7 in.; m., duller, smaller. Insects, 

 worms. 

 P 37. PARRIDAE (1), PARRA, Jacana, Water-Pheasant, 11 

 sp.— 2(1)A., 3(2)0., 3(3)E., l(0)Nc., 4(3)N1. 

 F. 38. Cursoriidae, Coursers, 15 sp.— 3(2)0., 1(0)P., 13(12)E. 

 F. 39. GLAREOLIDAE (2), PRATINCOLES, Swallow- 

 Plovers, 10 sp.— 2(0)A., 4(1)0., 3(0)P., 7(5)E. 

 1 108 Australian Pratincole, Swallow-Plover, Stiltia isa- 

 1 hella, Borneo, Java to A., N.Z. =vt. Eur. Pratincole. 



Mig. v.r. (interior) rivers, marshes 9.5 

 Upper, wings, breast light-rufous, throat whitish; abdomen 

 chestnut; base tail above, below white; centre tail 

 black, rest white; bill red, tipped black, swallow-like 

 flight; f., Sim. Insects. 

 F. 40. Dromadidae, Crab-Plover, 1 sp.— 1(0)0., 1(0) E. 

 F. 41. CEDICNEMIDAE (2), STONE-CURLEWS, Stone- 

 Plovers, Thick-Knees, 13 sp. — 2(1) A., 3(1)0., 

 1(0)P., 7(6)E., 3(3) Nl. 

 1 109*Southern Stone-Curlew (-Plover) Willaroo, Scrub 

 1 Curlew, Burhinus graUarhis, A., T. (ace). 



Stat. c. sandy plains, timber 20.5 



Crown, upper dark-gray, marked black; round eye white; 



throat buff; chest, abdomen whitish, streaked blackish; 



white patch on wing; legs long; bill short, black; f.. 



sim. Insects, berries. "Wee-lo." 



F. 42. OTIDIDAE (1), BUSTARDS, 33 sp.— 1(1)A., 7(2)0., 



7(2)P., 23(21)E. 

 1 110 Australian Bustard, Wild Turkey (e), Eupodotis aus- 

 5 tralis, A. Mig. r. plains 48 



Crown black; face, neck grayish- white; upper, wings 

 brown; wings spotted black- white; black band on 

 chest; abdomen white; f., smaller. Seeds, grass, 

 lizards, insects. 



eggs. If the eggs are laid in grass, they are greenish; if amongst 

 ironstone, the eggs are reddish-brown; if on sand, the eggs are 

 tawny; and so on. Other ground-laying birds seem to pick out 

 the soil that matches the color of their eggs, and lay there only. 

 Possibly local races of the Southern Stone-Curlew keep to the 

 one class of country. However, the eggs do match the surround- 

 ings, and the birds nest on different kinds of soil and rock. 



In Family 42, the only Australian bird is the Australian Bus- 

 tard, our representative of a widely-spread family, a member of 

 which formerly bred in Great Britain. It is the well-known "Wild 

 Turkey." As it is a good table bird, it is generally shot on sight. 

 This is a mistake, as it is (as Mr. C. French, Government Ento- 

 mologist, has pointed out) worth many times its table value as an 

 insect destroyer. None of the family has spread to America. 



