172 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



119. Eupodella vereda. ORIENTAL DOTTEREL. 



Gould, Vol. VI., pi. 14 (pt. xxxm.), Dec. 1st, 1848. Mathews, Vol. III., pt. 1, pi. 137, April 



2nd, 1913. 



Charadriua veredus Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1848, p. 38, Nov. 14th: North-west 



Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION. Winter visitor to Australia, breeding in the northern hemisphere. 



Adult male. Entire back, wings, and tail olive-brown, all the feathers narrowly 

 fringed with rufous ; bastard-wing, primary -co verts and quills dark brown, the 

 latter with pale inner webs, the outer primary has a white shaft ; secondaries some- 

 what paler than the primaries and fringed with white, the long innermost secondaries 

 like the back ; all the tail-feathers tipped with white, outer feathers much paler, 

 the outermost pair entirely white on the outer webs ; collar on the nape and eye- 

 streak pale brown ; fore-part of crown white intermixed with olive-brown ; ear- 

 coverts more or less stained with pale rufous or buff ; fore-head and lores pale buff ; 

 throat buffy -white ; patch below the eye, middle of the abdomen, flanks, and under 

 tail-coverts white ; fore-neck chestnut, extending on to the sides of the breast 

 followed by a black patch on the middle of the breast, which also extends down the 

 sides of the upper-abdomen, where the feathers are tipped with white ; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries olive-brown, the former tipped with grey ; bill black, lower 

 base horn colour ; iris hazel ; feet light flesh colour ; joints almost black. Total 

 length 245 mm. ; culmen 25, wing 170, tail 62, tarsus 49. 



Adult female. Similar to the male. 



Adult male in winter-plumage. Differs chiefly from the male in summer-dress 

 by the almost entire absence of chestnut and black on the fore-neck, chest, and sides 

 of breast. The sexes are alike. 



Young female. Olive-brown above, the feathers everywhere margined with 

 rufous which are paler and almost pure white on the median and greater wing- 

 coverts ; fore-head and eyebrow white ; throat whitish, more or less tinged with 

 rufous, which is more pronounced on the fore-neck and chest ; abdomen and under 

 tail -co verts white. 



Immature female. Distinguished from the adult chiefly by the absence of the 

 chestnut on the fore-neck and the broad rufous margins to the feathers of the upper- 

 surface ; the chestnut collar on the fore-neck of the adult is here represented by 

 a grey band with a few rufous feathers intermixed, which shows that the bird is 

 attaining the breeding-plumage. 



Nestling, Nest and Eggs. Unknown. Breeds in South-east Mongolia. 



Distribution and forms. Breeding in Mongolia and migrating southward in 

 winter to Australia, mainly in the north. No subspecies have been proposed. 



Genus ELSEYORNIS. 



Elseyornis Mathews, Austr. Av. Rec., Vol. II., pt. 5, p. 87, Sept. 24th, 1914. New name for 



Elseya Mathews 1913 not Grandidier 1867. Type (by original designation) : Charadriua 



vnelanops Vieillot. 



Elseya Mathews, Birds Austr., Vol. III., pt. 2, p. 125, May 2nd, 1913. Type (by original 



designation) : Charadriua melanops Vieillot. 



Not Elseya Grandidier, Rev. de Zool., p. 232, 1867. 



Smallest Plovers with long Vanelline bills, long wings, and long tail ; slender 

 legs and feet. 



The bill is very long for the Vanelline -billed group of Ring-Plovers, being only 

 exceeded by that of the genus Thinornis ; it is almost as long as the tarsus and exceeds 

 the middle toe. The wing is long with the first primary longest. The tail is long 

 and rounded, about half the length of the wing. The tarsus is short and slender ; 



