Mound-building Birds of Australia. 9 



taken 78 eggs. I had hoped to have got the nests of the 

 Great Indian Stone- Plover^ tlie Little Tern {Sterna sinensis) , 

 and the Ringed Plover {^gialitis dubia) ; but the first two 

 species had apparently not yet laid, and I did not see a 

 single specimen of the third. On the whole, for my first 

 attempt, I was more than satisfied, and my only wish is that 

 I may enjoy many another day's hunting by Ganga's sacred 

 stream. It does not become a tyro to make remarks on a 

 single day's experiences, but I think it may be of interest 

 to point out that, whereas Mr. Hume seems to have found 

 mostly young birds after the third week in March in the 

 Etawah district, a large number of my eggs were quite fresh 

 on April 9th, although Fatehgarh is east of Etawah, and I 

 did not see the sign of a young one on the many islands 

 which I visited. 



The following is the list of eggs taken : — 



Hoplopterus ventralis .... 17 average (14) 161 x 1"12 



Glareola ladea 44 „ (34) 1 -03 X 0-86 



Sterna seena 3 „ 1-67 x 1*23 



txelanoijuder 9 „ 1-35 X 1"00 



Hhi/nchops albivollis .... 5 ,, l-o8 X 1'17 



Note. — Since writing this I have seen the 4th vol. of the 

 ' Birds of India and Burmah,' and notice that no native 

 name is given to the Terns. 



In Oudh and the North-west Provinces I have always 

 heard them called ''Titri" by the boatmen, except R. albi- 

 collis, which is " Pancheera." 



This Titri is not to be confounded with Titiri (pron. 

 titeeree), the generic name for the Plovers. — W. J. 



III. — On the Habits of the Mound-building Birds of Australia. 

 By D. Le SouiiF, C.M.Z.S., Melbourne. 



Mound-building birds are always a subject of interest ; 

 they are widely dispersed over the continent of Austral ia^ 

 and are likely to hold their own for a long time to come, for 

 as a rule they inhabit country which can with difficulty be 



