154 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
at the foot of a clump of rushes growing near the water’s edge. Composed princi- 
pally of a dried alga, with other aquatic plants, placed on clumps of the dwarf 
salt marsh plant, being built up about 9 inches above the water. They measured 
approximately 8 inches across. 
Eggs —Clutch, four; ground-colour greenish-stone, marked all over with 
irregular-shaped spots of dark purplish-black and smaller underlying ones of lavender ; 
axis 44.5 to 45 mm., diameter 30.5 to 31.5. 
Breeding-season.—April, May, August to October. 
Distribution and forms—Throughout Australia and the Molucca Islands and 
also New Zealand. Four subspecies have been distinguished, as: H.1. leucocephalus 
Gould, from Eastern Australia; H. 1. assimilis (Mathews) from North-western 
Australia and Northern Territory, a smaller form with smaller bill, wing and legs, 
wing gd 223-232 against typical jg 239-245; culmen 59-61 against 64; tarsus 
109-119 against 123-127 mm., males being always larger than females; H. 1. 
timoriensis (Mathews) from East Timor and ? North Celebes agreeing in general 
size with the typical birds but with notably shorter legs, as tarsus 117—119.5 
against 123-127 mm.; and H. t. albus Ellman from New Zealand, the white collar 
being mottled with black and the tail being darker. 
Genus CLADORHYNCHUS. 
Cladorhynchus Gray, List Genera Birds, Ist ed., p. 69, April 1840. Type (by original designa-. 
tion): Himantopus palmatus = Recurvirostra leucocephala Vieillot. 
Recurvirostra Boie, Isis, 1826, heft 10., col. 979, Oct. Type (by monotypy): R. orientalis: 
Cuvier = R. leucocephala Vieillot. 
Not of Linné, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., p. 151, Jan. Ist, 1758. 
Leptorhynchus Du Bus, Mag. de Zool., 1835, pl. 45 (dated Aug.). Type (by monotypy) : 
L. pectoralis Du Bus = R. leucocephala Vieillot. 
Not of Guerin, Voy. Coquille, Zool., Vol. II., p. 110, 1831. 
Xiphidiorhynchus Reichenbach, Végel Neuholl., pt. 1., p. 28, 1845. Type (by monotypy) : 
R. leucocephala Vieillot. 
Timeta Gistel, Naturg. Thierr. Schul., p. 9, (pref. Easter, 1847) 1848. New name for 
Leptorhynchus Du Bus. 
The solitary member of the genus Cladorhynchus differs from those of Himantopus 
in its stouter legs and fully webbed toes. The culmen is much more than half 
the length of the metatarsus, the wings are about twice the length of the metatarsus, 
while the tail is short but nearly half the length of the wing. There is no hind-toe. 
107. Cladorhynchus leucocephalus. BANDED STILT. 
Gould, Vol. VI., pl. 26 (pt. 1), March Ist, 1841. Mathews, Vol. III., pt. 2, pl. 142, May 2nd, 
1913. 
Recurvirostra leucocephala Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., Vol. III., p. 103, Sept. 14th, 
1816: “ aux Terres australes ’’ = Victoria. 
Recurvirosira orientalis Cuvier, Régne Anim., Vol. I., p. 496, Dec. 7th, 1816. _? Same specimen. 
Leptorhynchus pectoralis Du Bus., Mag. de Zool., 1835, pl. 45 (dated Aug.): Victoria. 
Himantopus palmatus Gould, Synops. Birds Austr., pt. ., pl. (33), April lst, 1837: Victoria. 
Cladorhynchus australis Lawson, Emu, Vol. IV., p. 131, July 1905. Nomen nudum. 
Cladorhynchus leucocephalus rottnesti Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., pt. 2, p. 31, April 
2nd, 1912: Rottnest Island, South-west Australia. 
DistTrRiBuTION.—Australia generally and Tasmania. 
Adult male—Head and neck all round and entire back white, like the sides of 
the breast and abdomen, under tail-coverts, and inner under wing-coverts ; marginal 
coverts brown, edged with white ; upper wing-coverts and scapulars black ; small 
coverts on outer edge of wing brown; bastard-wing, primary-coverts and quills 
dark brown, the five outer primaries paler brown on the inner webs, the remainder 
white on the inner webs ; secondaries white except two of the inner ones which have: 
