LOTUS BIRD. 18] 
Nestling in down. — Appears to be undescribed; in egg, lappet scarcely 
discernible, and feet almost normal, no Jong claws yet developed. 
Nest.—Composed of sedge, grass and aquatic plants, placed close to the 
water’s edge, or upon any bunches of weeds or grass growing in the water which 
may be sufficiently strong to bear its weight. 
Eggs—Clutch, four; ground-colour brownish-buff, marked all over with 
lines of blackish-brown and highly polished ; those from Melville Island have no 
polish and are much lighter ; axis 28-31 mm., diameter 21-23. 
Breeding-season.—September to January. 
Distribution and forms.—Australia, only in the north but ranging as far south 
as northern New South Wales, and New Guinea, the Moluccas and Celebes. Five 
subspecies are separable, thus: J. g. gallinacea (Temminck and Laugier) from Celebes ; 
I. g. noveguinee (Ramsay) from New Guinea, separable by its much blacker colora- 
tion, more oil-green sheen, not bronze-brown as in the succeeding forms; J. g. 
novehollandie (Salvadori) a paler, bronze-brown form with less black on the back 
and the tail bronze-black; I. g. rothschildi Mathews from North-west Australia, a 
much darker race than the preceding, but not as dark as J. g. noveguinee ; and 
I. g. melvillensis Mathews from Melville Island, with a heavier bill than the preceding 
and the coloration of the under-surface more subdued. 
SuprerramMity GLAREOLOIDEA. 
We unite the Pratincoles and Coursers in this superfamily as, though the extremes 
seem very different, a regular gradation of species is still existent. The bill is more 
conical and the linear nostrils are placed parallel to the edges of the culmen ; the 
dertrum is less pronounced and the legs are scutellated in front and behind. The 
neck may be long or short, the wings may be very long and pointed or short, while 
the tail may be short and rounded or very long and deeply forked, and the legs 
may be very long or very short, a hind-toe absent or present. As above noted the 
connecting links are all available. The superficial features of the Pratincoles are 
so peculiar that great difference of opinion was formerly held as to their location, 
but now it is generally admitted that they are aberrant Plover forms. As usual, 
some anatomists have been just as puzzled as to the origin of the variations seen in 
internal features also. 
The schizognathous skull has the nasals of schizorhinal origin, but showing 
pseudo-holorhiny, while basipterygoid processes and occipital fontanelles are 
absent, and supraorbital grooves present. The tracheo-bronchial syrinx has a 
pair of intrinsic muscles and the leg muscle formula is ABXY+. The coracoids 
do not overlap. 
Famity GLAREOLIDA. 
The three genera represented in Australia are easily distingujshable by means 
of superficial characters, and it may be noted that the two breeding forms are 
peculiarly modified, one so much as to obscure its relationship without careful study. 
an other, while still a true Pratincole, has the legs lengthened after the style of the 
oursers. 
Genus GLAREOLA. 
Glareola Brisson, Ornith., Vol. I., p. 48, Vol. V., p. 141, 1760. Type (by tautonymy) : 
Glareola = Hirundo pratincola Linné. 
Trachelia Scopoli, Annus I., Hist. Nat., p. 110, 1769. Type (by monotypy): Hirundo 
pratincola Linné. 
Pratincola Forster, Fauna Indica, p. 11, (pref. June 20th) 1795. Type (by monotypy) : 
Glareola (Pnitincola) maldivarum Forster. 
