164 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



at the base, the inner ones edged with white, and the innermost long feathers dark 

 brown notched with golden-buff on each web, and fringed at the side with the same 

 colour ; central tail-feathers barred with dark and pale brown, outer feathers pale 

 brown and white ; fore-head and a line over the eye white, which is continued down 

 the sides of the neck and united to a small white patch on the sides of the upper- 

 breast ; lores, a spot in front of each eye, cheeks, throat, middle of breast, and middle 

 of abdomen black ; sides of body variegated with black, white and golden-buff ; 

 axillaries and under wing-coverts pale ash-brown ; under tail-coverts white, the 

 short ones tipped with black, and the long ones barred with black towards the ti] 

 bill black ; iris dark brown ; feet leaden-grey. Total length 243 mm. ; culmen 

 22, wing 166, tail 60, tarsus 44. 



Adult female in breeding-plumage. Similar to the adult male but slightly 

 larger. The tarsi of seventeen Eastern birds varies from 40 to 45 mm. 



Adult in winter-plumage. Similar, on the upper-parts, to the adult in breeding- 

 plumage, but differs in the absence of the white on the fore-head, line over the eye,, 

 and the sides of the neck, as also the white patch on the sides of the upper-breast. 

 It is further distinguished on the under parts by the absence of black on the throat, 

 sides of face, middle of the breast and abdomen, these parts being streaked with 

 brown and buff on the sides of the face and throat, and dusky-brown with twin 

 buff spots on the breast and sides of the body ; the feathers on the lower flanks 

 dull white barred with dusky-brown ; under tail-coverts white inclining to buff 

 on the lateral ones. The moult from the summer- to the winter-plumage in this 

 species is similar to that of Squatarola squatarola. 



Immature. General colour above, dark brown, including the head, back, wings, 

 and tail, the feathers margined or spotted with bright golden-yellow ; upper wing- 

 coverts paler brown with lemon-yello\v spots and margins ; bastard-wing, primary- 

 coverts, and quills dark brown with white edgings to the tips of the feathers, white 

 shafts to the quills and greyish-brown on the inner webs ; outer tail-feathers paler 

 brown than the middle ones and the light pattern inclining to whitish ; base of 

 fore-head, a small patch behind the eye and the hind-neck covered with whit^li 

 down which have dark bases on the latter ; lores and fore-cheeks golden yellow, 

 the feathers centred with brown ; hinder cheeks and throat similar but paler ; chin 

 and upper throat covered with white down ; fore-neck and breast greyish -brown, 

 the feathers marked with lemon -yellow ; sides of body lemon-yellow edged with 

 dark brown, which gives a barred appearance ; middle of abdomen and under tail- 

 coverts creamy-white, the lateral under-tail coverts marked with brown ; axillaries 

 and under wing-coverts dusky-brown. 



Nestling in down. Dusky-black on the upper-surface, with golden-yellow 

 tips to the down, more or less mixed with white, the predominating colour being 

 golden -yellow. Under-surface dull white with blackish bases to the thighs and 

 under-surface of the wings. 



Nest. A mere hollow in the ground upon a piece of turfy land, overgrown 

 with moss and lichen, and lined with broken stalks of reindeer moss. 



Eggs. Clutch, four ; ground-colour pale buff, spotted and blotched with rich 

 purplish-brown, with a few underlying ones of inky -grey ; axis 47-49 mm., diameter 

 32-34. 



Breeding -season. June, July. 



Distribution and forms. The arctic regions of Eastern Siberia and North 

 America migrating southward through the Pacific Islands to Australia and to South 

 America, straggling to Europe. Two subspecies are well known : P. d. dominicus 

 (Muller) from the West Indies, the American race with brownish axillaries (the 

 Golden Plover, P. apricarius (Linne) of Europe having white axillaries) ; and P. d^ 

 fulvus (Ginelin) from Eastern Siberia, the form visiting Australia, with shorter wings 

 and tail but longer legs and toes, and more boldly marked with yellow. 



