480 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION D. 



LOBIVAXELLUS MILES (PERSOXATUS.) 

 Masked Plover. 



Fiqure — Gould ; Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi., pi. 10 



Ramsay'' s Tah. List — Lohivanellus miles, Bodd. 



Previous Descriptions of Egys : — Gould : Birds of Australia 

 (1848), also Hdbk.. vol. ii., p. 221 (1865). 



U eographical Distribution — North-West Australia, Northern 

 Territory, and North Queensland. 



Nest — A hollow in the hare ground at the edge of a flat 

 adjoining a salt marsh. 



Eggs — Clutch, 3 and probably 4 ; in shape, somewhat pointed at 

 the smaller ends ; gi'ound color, of a dull olive-yellow, dashed all 

 over with spots and markings of blackish-brown and dark olive- 

 brown, particularly at the larger end; length Ifin. (4"13cm.) by a 

 breadth of lAiw- (3-Ocm.) 



Observations — All our knowledge at present of the nidification 

 of this elegant plover is from Gould's '* Birds of Australia.'' That 

 great author mentions the breeding season as August and Sep- 

 tember, but doubtless it extends a month or two later, and in 

 habits represents its southern ally, the better known wattled plover. 

 HoAvever, the eggs of the masked plover are much smaller than we 

 would have expected to find, for the dimensions, according to 

 Gould, are only about the size of the black-breasted j)lover's eggs. 



SAECIOPHORUS PECTOEALIS. 

 Black-breasted Plover. 



figure — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi., pi. 11. 



Ramsay's Tab. List — Sarciojjhorus pectoralis, Cuv. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs — Gould : Birds of Australia 

 (1848), also Handbook, vol. it., p. 223 (1865); Ramsay: Ibis, 

 vol. iir., new ser., with fig. (1867); Harting : Proc. Zool. Soc, 

 p. 458 (1874). 



Geographical. Distribution — Queensland, New South Wales, 

 Victoria, South and West Australia, and Tasmania. 



Nest — An indentation in the ground or slight sandy hollow on 

 plains. 



Eggs — Clutch, 4; placed points inwards; pyriform in shape; 

 texture of shell, fine and slightly lustrous ; ground color, light 

 olive-gi-ey or olive-stone, marked all over with small blotches and 

 irregular spots of brown. Dimensions in centimetres — (1) 4'67 x 

 3-24 ; (2) 4"5 x 3-24 ; two examples of a smaller set taken on 

 Darling Downs are— (1) 4-32 x 3-l7; (2) 4-3 x 3-1. The eggs of 

 this beautiful species are readily distinguished from those of the 

 wattled plover by their smaller size and finer (smaller) character 

 of markings. 



Observations — Two of our leading ornithologists persistently 

 overlook Tasmania as a locality of this species as well as the 



