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Fledgeling (Taupo, Dec. 24) . Featliers of the upper parts browu largely margined with fulvous ; underparts 

 white^ with fulvous markings on the breast ; the sides of the head and lower part of back and rump 

 covered with down of a dull sandy yellow spotted with black, and with fluffy down still adhering to 

 other parts of the body. Bill dark brown ; legs brownish grey. 



Chick. Covered with soft down of a bright sandy yellow on the upper surface, changing to yellowish white 

 on the underparts j the crown of the head and the back prettily mottled and varied with dark brown, of 

 which there is also a broad streak on the wings and thighs. 



Obs. There is a seasonal change of plumage, the chestnut band becoming considerably reduced in winter, 

 although it is never entirely absent in the fully adult bird. 



This pretty little Dottrel is very common on our shores, and is frequently met with also at a con- 

 siderable distance inland. It associates in flocks, and is always to be found on the ocean-beach, 

 or on the dry sands and grassy plains in the vicinity of the coast ; but I have also observed it on 

 the Onetapu desert, in the interior of the North Island, and it is very commonly met with on the 

 pastures several miles from the sea. It has been recorded from Lord Howe's Island ; and Mr. 

 Ronald Gunn states that it is plentifully dispersed along the northern shores of Tasmania ; but 

 Mr. Gould saw it only once in Australia, when, as he informs us, considerable numbers visited a 

 common in the neighbourhood of George Town, and appeared to be acting under some migratory 

 impulse; for, after remaining a day or two, they suddenly disappeared. This occurred about the 

 15th of May, the middle of the Australian winter; and the flights consisted of birds of various 



ages and in different states of plumage. 



It is more active in its habits than the preceding species, running swiftly over the sands, and 

 stopping at short intervals to bob its head and utter a rather plaintive note. It rises in the air 

 with a very rapid movement of its wings, and usually adopts a circular course, the whole flock 

 wheeling simultaneously and descending to the ground in an oblique direction. 



It nests in the localities which it commonly frequents ; and there appears to be very little 

 attempt at concealment, although the old birds manifest considerable solicitude for the safety of 

 their offspring, and adopt the usual devices for alluring intruders away. The eggs are generally 

 three in number, broadly oval in form, measuring 1"3 inch in length by 1 in breadth, and are of 

 a dark grey colour, much speckled and mottled with brown. 'The numerous examples in the 

 Canterbury Museum exhibit some variety in their colouring ; they are of different shades of 

 brownish grey, inclining in some to greenish grey, spotted and pencilled or marked all over, but 

 especially at the thicker end, with brownish black. The specimens vary not only in the tone of 

 the ground-colour, but also in the form and extent of the markings, some being very handsomely 

 pencilled and spotted, whilst others have a dark or blotched appearance, particularly at the 



larger end. 



I once discovered a nest of this species in a grass paddock at Manawatu, several miles from 

 the sea-shore ; and on my taking up one of the chicks, the old birds flew round me in circles and 

 gave vent to their anxiety in a rapid clicking note, in which both of them joined. This was on 

 the 22nd of December, and the young birds appeared to have only just emerged from the shell. 



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