178 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



Small Lapwings without spurs or wattles, proportionately long bills, long 

 wings, short tail, long legs and feet. The bill is straight, as long as the head, with 

 a distinct swollen dertrum ; nostrils short and linear, situated near the base of the 

 bill in a groove which extends over two-thirds the length of the bill. Wings long 

 with the first primary longest. There is a bony knob at the bend of the wing in 

 place of a spur. Metatarsus long and slender, apparently scutellated before and 

 behind with a narrow row of hexagonal scales on each side ; middle toe more than 

 half the length of the metatarsus ; distinct hind -toe and claw. Toes only slightly 

 connected at the base. This genus is monotypic and confined to Australia. 



124. Erythrogonys cinctus, RED,-KNEED DOTTEREL. 



Gould, Vol. VI., pi. 21 (pt. in.), June 1st, 1841. Mathews, Vol. III., pt. 1, pi. 128, April 

 2nd, 1913. 



Erythrogonys cinctus Gould, Synops. Birds Austr., pt. iv., pi. 73, April 1st, 1838 : New South 



Wales. 



Vanellus rufiventer Lesson, Echo du Monde Savant, ll e Ann., No. 9, col. 207, Aug. 1st. 1844 : 



New South Wales (c/. Menegaux, reprint Art. d'Ornith., Lesson, p. 175, 1913). 



Erythrogonys cinctus mixtus Mathews, Nov. Zool., VoL XVIII., p. 215, Jan. 31st. 1912 



Parry's Creek, North-west Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION. Australia generally. Not Tasmania. 



Adult male. Head, sides of face, hind-neck, upper mantle, and a broad band 

 across the breast black ; back and wings olive-brown like the middle of the rump, 

 upper tail-coverts, and middle tail-feathers ; a portion of the outer edge of the wing, 

 white ; primary -coverts and primary-quills brown, the latter paler on the inner 

 webs and becoming white at the base, the inner primaries white at the tips and 

 fringed with white on the inner webs ; secondaries dark brown at base with broad 

 white tips, the long innermost secondaries like the back ; outer tail-feathers white, 

 the outermost pair edged with olive-brown on the outer web near the tip ; throat 

 and fore-neck white like the lower sides of neck, abdomen, and axillaries ; the 

 long feathers on the sides of the body chestnut, edged and tipped with white ; some 

 of the feathers adjoining the pectoral band black, edged with white on the outer 

 web ; flanks, sides of rump, and under tail-coverts white, with dark centres to 

 the feathers at the tip, more or less mixed with chestnut ; inner under wing-coverts 

 white, the long ones with a brown spot at the tip, the marginal coverts blackish ; 

 bill, culmen, and distal third black, remainder red ; iris brown ; feet and tarsi 

 blue ; knees and tibia red. Total length 174 mm. ; culmen 22, wing 108, tail 46, 

 tarsus 41 . 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male but has the crown of the head brown. 



Young. General colour of the upper-parts earth-brown, including the head, 

 back, wings, and middle tail-feathers, with pale edges to the upper wing-coverts, 

 the dark and light patterns on the wing similar to the adult ; throat and general 

 under-surface white, including the middle of the breast, with a slight indication of 

 the black pectoral band on the sides of the latter, and the chestnut flank feathers 

 appearing. 



Another immature example, rather more advanced in age, has the upper 

 wing-coverts uniform without any pale edges, the cheeks, ear-coverts, and a band 

 on the hind -neck inclining to black, the pectoral band more pronounced on the sides 

 of the breast and faintly indicated across the middle of the latter, the chestnut 

 on the sides of the body well marked, under wing-coverts for the most part white. 



A further specimen shows a still greater advance, in having the pectoral band 

 complete in form but brown in colour, with a few white feathers intermixed, the 

 dusky-brown on the top of the head still retained, the black on the under wing- 

 coverts increased as also the black on the sides of the breast. 



