BLACK-FRONTED DOTTEREL, 173- 
the scaling is indistinct and shows a strong tendency to fusion ; it does not show 
the regular hexagonal scaling of Charadrius. The toes are long and slender and 
the outer one is connected with the middle one by a web near the base. No 
hind-toe. 
120. Elseyornis melanops.—-BLACK-FRONTED DOTTEREL. 
Gould, Vol. VI., pl. 20 (pt. xrx.), June Ist, 1845. Mathews, Vol. III., pt. 2, pl. 140, May 2nd, 
1913 
Charadrius melanops Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., Vol. XXVII., p. 139, Dec. 26th, 1818 : 
“aux Terres Australes Baudin Exp.’’ = New South Wales. 
Charadrius nigrifrons Temminck et Laugier, Planch. Color. d’Ois., 8* livr. (Vol. I., pl. 47,. 
fig. 1), (Vol. V., pl. 68), March 1821, ex Cuvier MS.: Nouvelle Hollande = New South 
Wales. 
Charadrius russatus Jerdon, Madras Journ. Lit. Sci., Vol. XII., p. 213, Oct. 1840: Madras, 
India. 
Charadrius melanops marngli Mathews, Noy. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 218, Jan. 31st, 1912: 
Marngle Creek, North-west Australia. 
DistriButTion.—Australia generally and Tasmania. 
Adult male.—Fore-head, middle of crown, lores, a line below the eye, ear-coverts, 
hind-neck, sides of neck and a broad band across the fore-neck deep black ; a line 
over the eye along the sides of the crown and nape white like the throat, sides of 
the breast, abdomen, and axillaries ; crown of head, back, long scapulars, and long 
innermost secondaries greyish-brown ; short scapulars maroon-chestnut ; lesser 
wing-coverts brown; median coverts greyish-brown with dark shaft-lines, greater 
coverts also greyish-brown broadly tipped with white forming a wing-bar ; a portion 
of the outer edge of the wing white; bastard-wing and primary-coverts black ; 
primary-quills very dark brown; secondaries white at base, apical portion dark 
brown, some of the inner ones almost entirely white ; upper tail-coverts rufous with 
dark shaft-lines ; middle tail-feathers dark brown, outer pair white, next pair with 
a brown spot on the inner web near the tip, the remainder brown tipped with white ; 
under tail-coverts white, the lateral ones with a black spot on the outer web ; under 
wing-coverts white, the small marginal coverts brown edged with white; quills 
below dark brown ; bill red, biack at tip; iris brown, eyelids scarlet; feet red. 
Total length 165 mm.; culmen 15, wing 110, tail 53, tarsus 25. 
Adult female —Similar to the adult male but slightly smaller. 
Immature.—Differs from fully adult by being darker on the upper-surface, in 
being rufous on the scapulars instead of maroon-chestnut ; paler rufous on the upper 
tail-coverts, the buff tips to the central tail-feathers, the incomplete black fore- 
head and the very much narrower band on the chest, which is also intermixed with 
buif. (May.) 
Immature (younger)—Head, back and scapulars earth-brown, with slightly 
paler edges to the feathers, the scapulars somewhat tinged with rufous. Among 
the latter may be noticed two or three deep chestnut feathers which suggest the 
first appearance of the adult plumage ; the long scapulars, innermost secondaries, 
and middle tail-feathers bronze-brown, the latter tipped with buff, the outer tail- 
feathers white marked with pale brown; the lesser upper wing-coverts show the 
remains of youth, and are similar to the stage next described, but not quite so bright, 
the secondaries differing also in having more white; fore-head and lores dusky; a 
line over the eye and continued round the nape buffy-white becoming whiter on 
the nape; a dark line from behind the eye joining the black collar on the hind- 
neck, which extends in an incomplete band across the chest; under-surface white. 
(April.) 
Immature just losing down—Crown of head, back, scapulars, innermost 
secondaries, and upper tail-coverts pale earth-brown strongly tinted with rufous, 
