AUSTRALIAN LlMICOLiE. 965 



23. H1MANTOPU8 NOViE ZEALANDI^. 



(Black Stilt). 



Himantopiis novce zealandice, Gould, P.Z.S., 1841, p. 8 ; Buller, B. 

 of New Zealand, 2nd ed., vol. ii., p. 24, (1888). 



The Black Stilt, which is an inhal)itant of New Zealand, 

 has appeared in Australia, where two examples were killed at 

 Port Nicholas in immature plumage, and on which Gould 

 founded the species. According to Buller it is rare iu parts of 

 New Zealand, being found in the river courses of the Welling- 

 ton district and further south. He records it from North 

 Cape, Kaipara, the Rotorua Lake, and Lake Taupo ; while 

 in the Rotomahana Lake Districtit iscommon. Itsoccurrence 

 in Australia, as also the recent visit of the small black 

 Cormorant, Phalacrocorax hrevirostris to the Tasmanian 

 coasts, are indicative of probable future visits of New Zealand 

 sea and shore birds to our region. 



24. Squatarola helvetica. 



(Grey Plover). 



Tr'inrja helvetica^ Linn, Sys. Nat., i., p. 250, (1776). 



Squatarola helvetica (Linn) , Gould Handb. of B. of Austr.,ii., p. 224, 



(1865) ; Legge, B. of Ceylon, p. 929, (1880) ; Ramsay, List 



Austr. B., p. 19., (1888). 



This fine Plover, which has such a wide Asiatic and 

 European distribution, is more limited in its Austrahan and 

 Polynesian range then the following species. Its breeding- 

 grounds in Northern Asia extend from Central Siberia (the 

 Taimyr Peninsula) eastward to Kamtschatka. Von Midden- 

 dorff found it breeding in the Byrranga Mountains, lat. 74°, 

 and in the Boganida near lat, 71°, in the Taimyr Peninsula, 

 in which region it was observed to arrive about the 24th 

 May. Von Schrenk also met with it in Amoor Land in 

 the summer, and it has been observed in that season in 

 Kamtschatka. From these northerly regions it migrates 

 through Central Asia to Turkestan, and in Kashgar it has 

 been noticed as late as the month of November, long before 

 which time it has spread over India, Burmah, Ceylon, and 

 the islands of the Bay of Bengal. It arrives in Ceylon in 

 very limited numbers as early as October. Farther to the 

 east it passes down the coast of China, through Hainan, 

 Formosa, and the islands of Japan to the Malay Archipelago 

 and Australia. There it has been noticed in Borneo, Java, 

 Labuan, the Philippines, Timor, and New Guinefi, and is 



