154 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



at the foot of a clump of rushes growing near the water's edge. Composed princi- 

 pally of a dried alga, with other aquatic plants, placed on clumps of the dwarf 

 salt marsh plant, being built up about 9 inches above the water. They measured 

 approximately 8 inches across. 



Eggs. Clutch, four ; ground-colour greenish-stone, marked all over with 

 irregular-shaped spots of dark purplish-black and smaller underlying ones of lavender ; 

 axis 44.6 to 45 mm., diameter 30.5 to 31.5. 



Breeding-season. April, May, August to October. 



Distribution and forms. Throughout Australia and the Molucca Islands and 

 also New Zealand. Four subspecies have been distinguished, as : H.I. leucocephalus 

 Gould, from Eastern Australia ; H. 1. assimilis (Mathews) from North-western 

 Australia and Northern Territory, a smaller form with smaller bill, wing and legs, 

 wing (JcJ 223-232 against typical << 239-245 ; culmen 59-61 against 64 ; tarsus 

 109-119 against 123-127 mm., males being always larger than females ; H. L 

 timoriensis (Mathews) from East Timor and ? North Celebes agreeing in general 

 size with the typical birds but with notably shorter legs, as tarsus 117-119.5 

 against 123-127 mm. ; and H. t. albus Ellman from New Zealand, the white collar 

 being mottled with black and the tail being darker. 



Genus CLADORHYNCHUS. 



Cladorhynchus Gray, List Genera Birds, 1st ed., p. 69, April 1840. Type (by original designa- 

 tion) : Himantopus palmatus = Recurvirostra leucocephala Vieillot. 



Recurvirostra Boie, Isis, 1826. heft 10., col. 979, Oct. Type (by monotypy) : R. orientals 

 Cuvier = R. leucocephala Vieillot. 



Not of Linne, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., p. 151, Jan. 1st, 1758. 



Leptorhynchus Du Bus, Mag. de Zool., 1835, pi. 45 (dated Aug.). Type (by monotypy): 

 L. pectoralis Du Bus = R. leucocephala Vieillot. 

 Not of Guerin, Voy. Coquille, Zool., Vol. II., p. 110, 1831. 



Xiphidiorhynchus Reichenbach, Vogel Neuholl., pt. i.. p. 28, 1845. Type (by monotypy) : 

 R. leucocephala Vieillot. 



Timeta Gistel, Naturg. Thierr. Schul., p. 9, (pref. Easter, 1847) 1848. New name for 

 Leptorhynchus Du Bus. 



The solitary member of the genus Cladorhynchus differs from those of Himantopus 

 in its stouter legs and fully webbed toes. The culmen is much more than half 

 the length of the metatarsus, the wings are about twice the length of the metatarsus, 

 while the tail is short but nearly half the length of the wing. There is no hind-toe. 



107. Cladorhynchus leucocephalus. BANDED STILT. 



Gould, Vol. VI., pi. 26 (pt. ii.), March 1st, 1841. Mathews, Vol. III., pt. 2, pi. 142, May 2nd, 

 1913. 



Recurvirostra leucocephala Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., Vol. III., p. 103, Sept. 14th, 

 1816 : " aux Terres australes " = Victoria. 



Recurvirostra orienialis Cuvier, Regne Anim., Vol. I., p. 496, Dec. 7th, 1816. ? Same specimen. 

 Leptorhynchus pectoralis Du Bus., Mag. de Zool., 1835, pi. 45 (dated Aug.) : Victoria. 

 Himantopus palmatus Gould, Synops. Birds Austr., pt. H., pi. (33), April 1st, 1837 : Victoria. 

 Cladorhynchus australis Lawson, Emu, Vol. IV., p. 131, July 1905. Nomen nudum. 

 Cladorhynchus leucocephalus rottnesti Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., pt. 2, p. 31, April 

 2nd, 1912 : Rottnest Island, South-west Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION. Australia generally and Tasmania, 



Adult male. Head and neck all round and entire back white, like the sides of 

 the breast and abdomen, under tail-coverts, and inner under wing-coverts ; marginal 

 coverts brown, edged with white ; upper wing-coverts and scapulars black ; small 

 coverts on outer edge of wing brown ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts and quills 

 dark brown, the five outer primaries paler brown on the inner webs, the remainder 

 white on the inner webs ; secondaries white except two of the inner ones which have 



