LONG-BILLED STONE-PLOVER. 117 
Nestling in partial down.—Crown of head, hind-neck, back, scapulars, and tail 
blue-grey with dark centres to the feathers ; outer scapulars tinged with rufous ; 
the grey down still adhering to the feathers on the sides of the crown, sides of 
neck, rump, and tail ; fore-head, eyebrow, and throat white ; lores and ear-coverts 
blackish ; quills black with white downy tips ; lower throat and fore-neck dark buff 
with broad black shaft-lines which extend on to the sides of the body ; abdomen, 
lower flanks, and thighs buffy-white ; under tail-coverts sandy-buff. 
Young—Head and hind-neck grey, with dark central streaks to the feathers, 
the down still adhering to the feathers of the latter; the feathers of the back, 
scapulars, and lesser wing-coverts broadly margined with rufous, becoming brighter 
and inclining to chestnut on the wings ; median coverts for the most part white with 
dark shaft-lines ; tail grey barred and mottled with brown ; cheeks and ear-coverts 
buff with dark shaft-streaks ; abdomen and thighs white, the latter tinged with 
buff ; under tail-coverts cinnamon-buff. 
Nest.—A depression. 
Eggs.—Clutch, two; ground-colour stone, blotched with dark brown, more 
especially on the larger end ; axis 53 mm., diameter 39. 
Breeding-season.—September and October. August to January. 
Distribution and forms.—Confined to Australia and Tasmania. Four subspecies 
are recognisable: B. m. magnirostris (Latham), from New South Wales, Victoria, 
South Australia and South Queensland ; B. m. ramsayi Mathews, from North 
Queensland, Gulf of Carpentaria, ete., with longer legs (146 mm.) though similar 
length of wing ; B. m. rufescens Mathews, from North-west Australia and Northern 
Territory, in their generally smaller size (tarsus 125 mm.) and more rufescent upper 
coloration ; and B. m. broomei Mathews, from South-west Australia, in their still 
smaller size, especially their shorter legs, tarsus 115 mm., average leg measurement 
of typical form 135 mm. 
Genus ORTHORHAMPHUS. 
Orthorhamphus Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Civ. Genova, Vol. V., p. 312, 1874. Type (by monotypy): 
@dicnemus magnirostris Vieillot. 
Burhinine birds with very long stout bills, short wings, short tail, and stout 
long legs. The bill is massive, longer than the head, with tip slightly decurved ; 
the nasal depression is about half the length of the culmen with the long linear 
nostrils anteriorly placed ; the length of the culmen almost approaches that of the 
metatarsus. 
The wing is short with the first three primaries longest and subequal. The 
tail is rounded and short, being less than half the length of the wing. The legs are 
long and stout ; the metatarsus is reticulate throughout and is only about one-third 
the length of the wing. No hind-toe. 
81. Orthorhamphus magnirostris.-LONG-BILLED STONE-PLOVER. 
[Edicnemus magnirostris Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., Vol. XXIII., p. 231, Sept. 5th, 
1818, ex Geoffroy St. Hilaire MS. No locality = Binongka, Celebes, in error = Timor, 
collected by Peron. Extra-limital.] 
Gould, Vol. VI., pl. 6 (pt. xx1.), Dec. Ist, 1845. Mathews, Vol. III., pt. 4, pl. 174, Dec. 31st, 
1913. 
Esacus magnirostris neglectus Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 226, Jan. 31st, 1912; 
Lewes Island, mid-West Australia. 
Esacus magnirostris melvillensis Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., pt. 4, p. 85, Sept. 18th, 
1912: Melville Island, Northern Territory. 
Esacus magnirostris queenslandicus Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. II., pt. 1, p. 6, Aug. 
2nd, 1913: Mackay, Queensland. 
DistRIBUTION.—North-west Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland. 
