2 12 BernEY, N. Queensland Notes on Some Migratory Birds. [_ist April 



Australian Dottrel {Peltohyas austraUs). — An occasional summer 

 visitor in small numbers; five are the most I have seen together. i6th 

 December is my earliest record and 19th January the latest. Sometimes 

 they are on the flooded bore streams and at others on the high, dry, wind- 

 swept downs. 



Oriental Dottrel (Ochthodromus veredus). — A regular summer resident 

 in large numbers, beginning to arrive during October and November, 

 the earliest that I have seen them being loth of the former month, but 

 the big body of them does not show up till December, and they leave again 

 at the end of March. Seen generally in the vicinity of water such as bore 

 streams on the high open downs. In the course of their flight, which is 

 very rapid, sharp zig-zag turns are made simultaneously by the whole 

 flock with a smartness and precision that are wonderful. Should you pass 

 close to them when on the ground they stand like little statues, their heads 

 all turned one way ; they are then very hard to see, and it's the first inti- 

 mation you get of their presence when they go with a rush, perhaps a 

 hundred of them. There is no getting a shot if you are not ready, and you 

 watch them regretfully as they race away, blaming yourself for missing 

 a chance like that by not having a couple of cartridges in your gun. Sud- 

 denly ten more get vip from the same spot, right under your elbow. You 

 load then, and, carefully quartering the ground, flush three more, when, 

 using both barrels, you stop one of them. It is never too late to load with 

 these birds, for you can never feel quite sure that they are all gone. They 

 have a strange habit — always a few of them — of standing close, very close, 

 after the main mob have flown. When on the wing in mobs they utter 

 a whistle that sounds as though it was produced through a muffled pea- 

 whistle. 



Hooded Dottrel {Mgialitis cucullata). — During the summer of 1899 

 and 1900 I saw this species pretty frequently on the bore streams near 

 Richmond, and shot a female for identification. 



Black-fronted Dottrel {Mgialitis melanops). — To be seen commonly 

 here on all waters during the summer, singly or in pairs. Should more 

 than two come together it generally leads to unpleasantness. They are 

 pretty little birds to watch with the assistance of field glasses as they trip 

 along the water's edge. To what extent they migrate with the advent 

 of winter depends very much on the severity or mildness of the season ; 

 some years they leave us entirely, while this winter so far (end of July) 

 shows no diminution of their numbers. They nest with us, though the 

 sheep running round the water-holes must sadly interfere with this operation. 

 I watched a pair, with aid of my glasses, with two well-feathered youngsters 

 on 29th November last year. 



Red-capped Dottrel {MgiaUtis mfieapilla). — Only once (January, 1900) 

 have I come across this little Dottrel, with its conspicuous white forehead ; 

 there was a pair of them, but they only remained a few days. 



Red-kneed Dottrel {Erythrogonys cinctus). — This smart-looking Dottrel 

 is fairly common from December to May in this district, always at the 

 water's edge and generally in couples. I have seen as many as five at a 

 dam, but you could not say they were together. 



Australian Pratincole {Stiltia Isabella). — Pratincoles during the 

 summer are very numerous on the open downs about Hughenden and 

 Richmond, where they nest. I have found youngsters in every stage of 

 down and feather from loth November to 12th March. Their eggs, laid 

 on the bare ground, are among the hardest to see that I know of ; I have 

 stood a few paces 'away from a nest containing two eggs, and having, 



