RED-KNEED DOTTEREL, 179 
Another specimen, which appears to be a year old, has nearly gained the adult 
plumage and has the head, sides of face, and hind-neck black with a few brown 
feathers remaining ; the pectoral band shows similar colours. 
Nestling, three weeks old—The crown and back are brown, each feather being 
tipped with a lighter shade, which give it a mottled appearance. All the under- 
surface is white, including the throat, and also a band just behind the crown extending 
to the back of the eye, and adjoining this white band, but behind it, is a black one 
extending to the lower part of the eye. The primaries are black slightly tipped 
with white. The secondaries are also black and tipped boldly with white, and also 
white at the base, the amount varying in each feather. The lesser and median 
wing-coverts are mostly white, with a few brown feathers just coming, and a small 
patch of white on the spurious wing. Humeral feathers dark brown, tipped with 
a lighter shade. The tail-feathers are black, tipped with lighter brown ; under 
tail-coverts white, with a few brownish-black spots. Beak yellowish for about 
half its length, the end being black. The nasal groove is more than half the length 
of the beak. Feet yellowish and toes black. 
Nestling in down.—Appears to be undescribed. 
Nest.—None is made ; the eggs are placed in a slight depression in the ground, 
on the edge of a large inland lagoon. 
Eggs.—Clutch, four; ground-colour varies from light to dark stone, thickly 
covered all over with irregular angular and curved hair-lines, and irregular-shaped 
markings of black, which cross and recross each other in various directions, the lines 
vary in thickness from that of a fine hair to that of coarse thread, on the thicker end 
here and there they loop and form tangles ; axis 29-31 mm., diameter 23. 
Breeding-season.—October, November and December. 
Distribution and forms—Confined to Australia. Two subspecies are easily 
acceptable: EH. c. cinctus Gould, from East Australia; and #. c. mixtus Mathews, 
from West Australia in its darker upper coloration, less marked chestnut flank 
feathers and narrower black breast-band. 
SupERFAMILY JACANOIDEA, 
A delightful little group of birds apparently developed from a pre-Charadriine 
source, and recalling in many ways the Wattled Plovers, the coloration, head wattling 
and bill formation all suggesting their derivation from that basic source, the wing 
also sometimes being spurred. Their distribution is more or less coincident, being 
rather more restricted to the Tropical zones of the world. Agreeing in the extreme 
elongation of the toes and claws and in the possession of the hind-toe and claw 
similarly elongated they show as much diversity otherwise in evolution as the Wattled 
Plovers do. That the development of the peculiar feet is adaptive seems proven 
by the formation of the flexor tendons of the feet, there being no special slip for the 
extraordinary hallux. 
Osteological items of note are few ; the skull has well-developed basipterygoid 
processes, but no occipital foramina nor supraorbital grooves. The sternum is 
singly notched on each side at its posterior margin. The tracheo-bronchial syrinx 
has a pair of intrinsic muscles, while the ceca are reduced to mere passeriform 
nipples. Other internal features as recorded seem to agree with the ordinal characters 
given. 
Famitry JACANIDA. 
Genus IREDIPARRA. 
Irediparra Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 7, June 17th, 1911. Type (by original 
designation): Parra gallinacea Temminck et Laugier. 
N2 
