970 ADDENBtJM — SECTION D. 



26. EUDROMIAS AUSTRALIS. 



( Australian Dotterel). 



Eudromias australis, Gould, P.Z.S., pi., viii., p. 174, Handb. B. ot 

 Austr., ii., p. 227, (1805) ; Kamsay, List Austr. B., p. 79, (1888). 



This handsome bird, the Australian prototype of the well- 

 known European Dotterel, is an inhabitant of the interior of 

 the southern portion of the continent. It was first discovered 

 by Captain Sturt on the highlands near the River Murray in 

 South Australia. As quoted by Gould, this traveller writes 

 as follows : — " This singular bird made its appearance in 1841 

 suddenly on the plains of Adelaide, seeming to have come 

 from the north. It occupied the sandhills at the edge of the 

 mangrove swamps, and fed round the puddles of water on 

 the plains." It is not uncommon, according to my own 

 experience on the plains of Riverina between Deniliquin and 

 Hay, being found occasionally on the sandy wastes of the 

 large sheep-runs in that district. Dr. Ramsay informs me 

 that it is has bred in Riverina, and he has obtained it in other 

 parts of New South Wales. Mr. Campbell writes me that 

 it is found in the Murchison district, West Australia, breeding- 

 there also. Its range no doubt extends further north, 

 particularly on the west side of the continent, than has been 

 ascertained up to the present time. 



27. Eudromias asiaticus. 

 (Eastern Dotterel). 



Charadrius veredu?^ Gould, P.Z.S., 1848, p. 38 ; Harting, Ibis, 

 1870, p. 209 ; Ramsay, List Austr. B., p. 19, (1888). 



Cirrepidessbmiis asiaticus, (Pallas), Gould, Handb. B. of Austr., 

 ii., p. 229, (1805) ; Finsch, Ibis, 1872, p. 144.* 



This species was described as an Australian bird by Gould 

 from a Port Essington specimen, and was thought for some 

 time to be peculiar to our continent and the Malay Archipelago. 

 It is now known, however, to have an extended range towards 

 the north, being identical with the Asiatic bird described by 

 Pallas. Its breeding-grounds are apparently in the north of 

 China, or perhaps beyond that, in Amoor Land. Its migratory 

 path appears to be narrow as it passes down the coasts of 

 China and Japan, but does not spread to the westward into 

 Asia. It is found, however, in Java, Celebes, Amboyna, 

 Ternate, New Guinea, and the Aru Islands. In these 

 localities it has been met with in the immature stage or in the 



* Dr. Finsch in referring in this paper to Mr. Harting's exhaustive article 

 on this species, clearly shows that this bird is the Ch. asiaticus of Pallas. 



