EGGS OF CHARADRIIDJE. 437 



blotched or are confluent about the upper quarter of the egg. 

 Dimensions in centimetres of A'arious clutches, namely : — 



Clutch A 3-36 X 2-28 (the sharper pointed egg) 



3-22 X 2-2 



" B 305 X 2-33 



2-96 x2-3 



" C 3-09 X 2-2 



3-04 X 2-25 



" D 2-94 X 2-16 



3-05 X 2-23 

 Observations— Like Mr. A. J. North, I had my introduc'^ion 

 when a boy to this, the smallest of our dottrels, on the sandy tracks 

 interspersed with low scrub that stretched in those days between 

 Sandridge (now Port Melbourne) and St. Kilda, but by the 

 wonderful march of civilisation the favorite breeding grounds of the 

 birds have long since been supplanted by a thriving suburb, a rail- 

 way station, and a military road. 



Although this endearing little shore wanderer loves the fore- 

 shore of inlai.d brackish lakes and backwaters, we observed a few 

 members in company with the hooded dottrel on the boisterous and 

 exposed situations on King Island ; but nowhere have I seen the 

 red-capped dottrel more plentiful than on the great sweep of sandy 

 beach in Geographe Bay, Western Australia, where the eggs in 

 doublets may be picked up for the seeking. I was never fortunate 

 enough to enjoy Mr. North's experience of picking up three eggs 

 from the one nest of this species. Although strictly a coastal bird, 

 instances are known of the eggs having been taken in the interior. 

 The breeding months, like the hooded dottrel, are from Septem- 

 ber to January, November being the principal month. 



My remarks on the stone-curlew, with reference to the sharper- 

 pointed egg being as a rule the longer of a pair, are again strikingly 

 illustrated in the red-capped dottrel. In four clutches, selected at 

 random and measured, it will be seen there is only one exception 

 (clutch D) to the rule. 



ERYTHROGONYS CINCTUS. 

 Reu-kneed Dottrel. 



Figure — Gould: Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi., pi. 21. 



Ramsay's Tab. List — Erythrogonys cinctus, Gld. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs — Ramsay : P.L.S., N.S.W., vol. 

 Yii. (1882). Campbell : Southern Science Record (1883). 



Geographical Distribution — Northern Territory, Queensland, 

 New South Wales, Victoria, South, West (probably), and North- West 

 Australia. 



Nest — Eggs generally deposited on the moist ground near the 

 margin of a swamp or lagoon. 



