BLACK-BREASTED PLOVER. 177 



Metatarsus short and apparently irregularly scutellated on the back, though 

 regularly scaled in front. Toes short, less than half the length of the tarsus, and 

 no hind -toe. 



123. Zonifer tricolor. BLACK- BREASTED PLOVER. 



Gould, Vol. VI., pi. 11 (pt. ix.), Dec. 1st, 1842. Mathews, Vol. III., pt. 1, pi. 131, April 



2nd, 1913. 



Charadrius tricolor Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., Vol. XXVII., p. 147, Dec. 26th, 1818 : 



" aux Torres Australes, Baudin Exp." = New South Wales. 



Charadrius pectoralis Wagler, Syst. Av., Charadr., sp. 8, p. (58), Oct. 1827. New name for 



preceding ex Cuvier MS. 



Not of Vieillot, loc. cit., p. 145, 1818. 



Charadrius vanelloides Peale, United States Expl. Exp., Vol. VIII., p. 240, 1848 (cf. 2nd ed., 



p. 328, 1858) : New South Wales. 



Zonifer tricolor gwendolence Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 216, Jan. 31st, 1912 : 



Broome Hill, South-west Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION. Australia generally and Tasmania. 



Adult male. General colour above purplish-bronze somewhat paler on the 

 hind-neck ; darker and inclining to blackish on the lower back ; lesser wing-coverts 

 rather darker than the back ; the small coverts on the outer edge of the wing dark 

 brown edged with white ; median coverts tipped with white ; the greater series 

 almost entirely white ; tail white, with a broad black band at the tip, the outer 

 feathers fringed with white at the ends ; crown of head, cheeks, sides of neck, and 

 breast black, the latter with a purplish gloss ; in front of the eye an oval-shaped red 

 wattle ; a line behind the eye, throat, and fore-neck white, like the abdomen, under 

 tail-coverts, axillaries, and under wing-coverts ; bill, iris, and eyelid canary -yellow ; 

 knees and tibia dark crimson ; tarsi and feet black ; soles of feet dark greyish- 

 flesh colour ; wattle bright red. Total length 284 mm. ; culmen 22, wing 194, 

 tail 83, tarsus 49. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 



Immature. Has the marginal wing-coverts above edged with rufous. 



Nestling in down. Upper-parts reddish-yellow ground with small dark brown 

 blotches, white collar round hind-neck, with a black circular nape band above ; 

 under-surface pure white with indistinct black band across chest ; tips of feathers 

 white, bases dark ; winglet with a whitish edge ; edges of thighs with darkish bases 

 to down ; fore-head reddish, a minute oval lappet in front of eye hidden by down. 

 Young in nestling plumage (partial down). Rufous -brown on the upper-parts 

 with indistinct barrings of sandy-buff ; fore-head, sides of crown, and nape covered 

 with black-and-buff down ; a narrow white line under the eye, continued over ear- 

 coverts and around the hind-neck ; ear-coverts pale brown ; throat, abdomen, and 

 sides of body white ; broad black band across chest, feathers tipped with rufous ; 

 tail, composed of down, blackish, tipped with white. 



Nest. A depression in the ground, lined with dead sticks, etc. 



Eggs. Clutch, four ; ground-colour stone, covered all over with spots of 

 reddish-purple and lavender ; axis 42-44, diameter 30-31 . 



Incubation-period. Said to be twenty -eight days. 



Breeding -season. May to January. 



Distribution and forms. Confined to Australia. Two subspecies are admis- 

 sible : an eastern, Z. t. tricolor (Vieillot) ; and a western race, Z. t. gwendolence 

 Mathews with a narrower black breast-band, a larger wattle above the eye and 

 generally of darker coloration. 



Genus ERYTHROGONYS. 



Erythrogonys Gould, Synops. Birds Austr., pt iv., pi. 73, April 1st, 1838. Type (by mono- 

 typy) : Erythrogonys cinctus Gould. 



N 



