116 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



the length of the wing. The legs are long ; a long tibia is exposed ; the metatarsus 

 is reticulate throughout, and is nearly half the length of the wing. There is no 

 webbing between the toes, and there is no hind-toe. 



The genus (Edicnemus differs in its smaller size and in the proportions of the 

 wing, tail, and culmen. Thus the culmen is almost equal to half the metatarsal 

 length ; the tail is about half the wing length ; and the wing, with the first primary 

 longest, is about three times the length of the metatarsus. 



Coloration grey, sandy or sandy-rufous, blotched with black above, throat 

 striped with black ; abdomen, etc., white. Orthorhamphus is of similar coloration, 

 but more uniform like Esacus with a huge straight, not upturned bill. 



80. Burhinus magnirostris. STONE-PLOVER. 



Gould, Vol. VI., pi. 5 (pt. xxi.), Dec. 1st, 1845. Mathews, Vol. III., pt. 4, pL 173, Dec. 31st, 

 1913. 



Charadrius magnirostris Latham, Index Ornith. Suppl., p. LXVI., 1801 after May : New 



South Wales, based on Watling drawing No. 251. 



Charadrius grallarius Latham, ib. : New South Wales, based on ib. No. 246. 



Charadrius frcenatus Latham, ib., p. Lxvn. : New South Wales, based on id. No. 252. 



(Edicnemus longipes Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., Vol. XXIII., p. 232, Sept. 5th, 1818, 



ex Geoffrey St. Hilaire MS. : Nouvelle Hollande ex Baudin Exp. = New South Wales. 



Burhinus novcehollandice Stephens, in Shaw's Gen. Zool., Vol. XIV., pt. I., p. 342, 1826 (end). 



New name for C. magnirostris Latham. 



Charadrius giganteus Wagler, Isie, 1829, heft 6, col. 648, June : New South Wales. 



(Edicnemus major Brehm, Isis, 1845, heft 6, col. 357, May : New South Wales. 



(Edicnemus australis Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1859, p. 212. Error only. Nom. nud. 



(Edicnemus longipes Ramsay, Tab. List. Austr. Birds, p. 35, 1888 : Gulf of Carpentaria, 



Queensland. 



Not of Vieillot as above 1818. 



Burhinus magnirostris rufescens Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 225, Jan. 31st, 1912 : 



Parry's Creek, North-west Australia. 



Burhinus magnirostis ramsayi Mathews, ib. : Mackay, Queensland. 



Burhinus magnirostris broomei Mathews, ib., p. 226 : Broome Hill, South-west Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION. Australia generally and Tasmania. 



Adult male. General colour of the upper-surface pale grey with black shaft-lines, 

 more broadly on the scapulars, and brown bars and mottlings on the upper tail- 

 coverts and tail ; lesser upper wing-coverts brown margined with buff, the median 

 coverts broadly margined on the basal portion with buffy-white, which give the 

 appearance of an irregular wing-band ; the marginal coverts round the bend of the 

 wing greyish-brown with black shaft-lines ; bastard-wing, primary -coverts and quills 

 black with a broad white band on the four outer primaries, secondaries dark brown 

 with paler margins, the long innermost secondaries like the long scapulars ; outer 

 tail-feathers mottled with grey and barred with brown on the outer web and barred 

 with brown and white on the inner webs and tipped with black ; fore-head, lores, 

 cheeks, a streak below the eye, and superciliary line white like the chin and throat ; 

 ear-coverts, fore-neck and breast buff with dark shaft-streaks, which are much 

 broader on the breast ; abdomen and axillaries white ; flanks and under tail-coverts 

 buff ; under wing-coverts grey with dark brown shaft-lines, the greater series with 

 brown tips ; bill black ; iris greyish-yellow ; legs yellow, feet brown. Total length 

 550 mm. ; culmen 51, wing 297, tail 170, tarsus 138. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male, but smaller ; culmen 50, wing 275, 

 tarsus 132. 



Nestling in down. Whitish-grey above with four longitudinal black lines, two 

 of which meet on the tail, each fringed with sandy-buff ; head whitish -grey, more or 

 less mixed with black ; a black spot on the fore-head, which is continued over the 

 eye on to the ear-coverts, also a black spot in front of the eye and a line of the same 

 colour below the latter ; throat and under-surface white with a more or less buffy tinge. 



