DOTTEREL. 185 



Immature. Differs from the adult in having all the characters much more 

 faintly indicated, except on the crown of the head where the black band of the adult 

 is entirely absent. 



Nestling. Appears to be undescribed. 



Nest. A depression in the soil. 



Eggs. Clutch, three to five ; ground-colour is of a rich cream or buff, 

 sparingly sprinkled all over with irregular spots and some elongated crooked 

 markings of chocolate-black with a few minute dots and dashes of a lighter tint ; 

 the markings look black in certain lights, but of a chocolate tint in others ; axis 

 37 mm., diameter 27. 



Breeding -months. April, May, August, September and October. 



Distribution and forms. Confined to Central Australia. Two subspecies 

 have been determined, but more may later be recognised ; these are : P. a. australis 

 (Gould) from eastern interior (South Australia), and P. a. whitlocki (Mathews) 

 from interior Western Australia, a darker and larger race. 



SUBORDER OTIDIFORMES. 



The Bustards we have allowed as a suborder of the order Lari or Limicolae, 

 though we acknowledge this is a debatable point. The examination of the bill 

 proclaims it to be Plover-like, while the legs are quite unmistakably of the same 

 affinity and certainly not at all Gruine. The nestling plumage is also referable 

 to the Limicoline series and not to the Gruine form. They are all large stoutly-built 

 birds with longish necks, short heads, flattened broad bills, long round wings, short 

 tail and long stout legs and small feet with no hind-toe. The distribution of the 

 suborder is tropical and subtropical. 



Osteologically, the skull shows a schizognathous palate while the nasals are 

 commonly cited as holorhinal, but this is a pseudo-holorhiny and is of schizorhinal 

 origin. There are no basipterygoid processes, and the descending process of the 

 lachrymal does not anchylose with the ethmoid. The coracoids do not touch at 

 their articulation with the sternum, the cervical vertebrae sixteen to eighteen in 

 number, and the sternum is doubly notched. The members of the suborder are 

 remarkable for tjie variation in the number of the carotids, some genera having 

 both, others only the left, and for Austrotis australis the right has only been recorded, 

 a state unique. The digestive system is periccelous, and the caeca are remarkable 

 and variable in form. The syrinx is tracheo-bronchial, without intrinsic muscles. 

 The leg muscle formula is BXY-f, and there is no biceps slip, but an expansor 

 secundariorum is present. There is no oil gland, but an aftershaft is present ; 

 the wing is aquincubital and the pterylosis is variable and the variation yet 

 undetermined. 



FAMILY OTIDILXE. 



In this family from internal items Austrotis is almost the best marked genus, 

 possessing the least modified form of syrinx, the most peculiar caeca, extraordinary 

 carotid development, and a " showing-off " apparatus quite distinct from that of 

 the well-known type. 



Genus AUSTROTIS. 



Austrotis Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. II. pt. 1, p. 12, Aug. 2nd, 1913. Type (by original 

 designation) : Otis australis Gray. 



Otidine birds with medium-sized bill, long wings, long legs, and long tail. 

 The bill is rather long, flattened, wide at the base, with the nostrils placed near 



