BLACK-FRONTED DOTTEREL. 173 



the scaling is indistinct and shows a strong tendency to fusion ; it does not show 

 the regular hexagonal scaling of Charadrius. The toes are long and slender and 

 the outer one is connected with the middle one by a web near the base. No 

 hind -toe. 



120. Elseyornis melanops. BLACK-FRONTED DOTTEREL. 



Gould, Vol. VI., pi. 20 (pt. xix.), June 1st, 1845. Mathews, Vol. III., pt. 2, pi. 140, May 2nd, 



1913. 



Charadrius melanops Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., Vol. XXVII., p. 139, Dec. 26th, 1818 : 



" aux Terres Australes Baudin Exp." = New South Wales. 



Charadrius nigrifrons Temminck et Laugier, Planch. Color. d'Ois., 8 e livr. (Vol. I., pi. 47,. 



fig. 1), (Vol. V., pi. 68), March 1821, ex Cuvier MS.: Nouvelle Hollande = New South 



Wales. 



Charadrius russatus Jerdon, Madras Journ. Lit. Sci., Vol. XII., p. 213, Oct. 1840 : Madras, 



India. 



Charadrius melanops marngli Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 218, Jan. 31st, 1912 : 



Marngle Creek, North-west Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION. Australia generally and Tasmania. 



Adult male. Fore-head, middle of crown, lores, a line below the eye, ear-coverts, 

 hind -neck, sides of neck and a broad band across the fore -neck deep black ; a line 

 over the eye along the sides of the crown and nape white like the throat, sides of 

 the breast, abdomen, and axillaries ; crown of head, back, long scapulars, and long 

 innermost secondaries greyish-brown ; short scapulars maroon-chestnut ; lesser 

 wing-coverts brown ; median coverts greyish-brown with dark shaft-lines, greater 

 coverts also greyish-brown broadly tipped with white forming a wing-bar ; a portion 

 of the outer edge of the wing white ; bastard-wing and primary -coverts black ; 

 primary-quills very dark brown ; secondaries white at base, apical portion dark 

 brown, some of the inner ones almost entirely white ; upper tail-coverts rufous with 

 dark shaft-lines ; middle tail-feathers dark brown, outer pair white, next pair with 

 a brown spot on the inner web near the tip, the remainder brown tipped with white ; 

 under tail-coverts white, the lateral ones with a black spot on the outer web ; under 

 wing-coverts white, the small marginal coverts brown edged with white ; quills 

 below dark brown ; bill red, black at tip ; iris brown, eyelids scarlet ; feet red. 

 Total length 165 mm. ; culmen 15, wing 110, tail 53, tarsus 25. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male but slightly smaller. 



Immature. Differs from fully adult by being darker on the upper-surface, in 

 being rufous on the scapulars instead of maroon-chestnut ; paler rufous on the upper 

 tail-coverts, the buff tips to the central tail-feathers, the incomplete black fore- 

 head and the very much narrower band on the chest, which is also intermixed with 

 buff. (May.) 



Immature (younger). Head, back and scapulars earth-brown, with slightly 

 paler edges to the feathers, the scapulars somewhat tinged with rufous. Among 

 the latter may be noticed two or three deep chestnut feathers which suggest the 

 first appearance of the adult plumage ; the long scapulars, innermost secondaries, 

 and middle tail-feathers bronze-brown, the latter tipped with buff, the outer tail- 

 feathers white marked with pale brown ; the lesser upper wing-coverts show the 

 remains of youth, and are similar to the stage next described, but not quite so bright,, 

 the secondaries differing also in having more white ; fore-head and lores dusky ; a 

 line over the eye and continued round the nape buffy -white becoming whiter on 

 the nape ; a dark line from behind the eye joining the black collar on the hind- 

 neck, which extends in an incomplete band across the chest ; under-surface white. 

 (April.) 



Immature just losing down. Crown of head, back, scapulars, innermost 

 secondaries, and upper tail-coverts pale earth-brown strongly tinted with rufous,. 



