300 CHARADElADfi. 



H^MATOPUS UNICOLOR, Wac/ler. 

 (H. fulginoius, Gould.) 

 Sooty Oyster-catclier. 

 Gould, Handhk. Bds. Aust., Vol. ii., sp. 499, p. 217. .221 3. 

 Like the preceding species this bird is found all over the 

 Australian coast, it is however particularly plentiful on the rocky 

 islets of Bass's Straits, whither it resorts to breed during September 

 and thethree following months. The Seal Rocks about three miles 

 distant from the " Nobbys," Phillip Island in Western Port Bay, 

 Victoria, is a favorite breeding ground of this, species, but the 

 difficulty of access to it on account of the risk of a boat being 

 dashed to pieces on the rocks by the heavy surf continually breaking 

 upon it, renders the place a pretty secure retreat for countless 

 numbers of gulls, terns, oyster-catchers, &c. Eggs usually two in 

 number for a sitting varying from a pale stone colour to light 

 brown, in some instances being uniformly covered with round 

 spots and dots of dark brown ; in others, heavily blotched and 

 covered with figures resembling Egyptian hieroglyphics in every 

 shade of dark umber and black. 



Two eggs taken at Phillip Island from off a grassy ledge on 

 the 25th of October 1883, which are average sized specimens, 

 measure as follows :— length (A) 2-63 x 1-65 inches; (B) 2-58 

 X 1 "64 inch. 



Hah. Port Darwin and Port Essington, Gulf of Carpentaria, 

 Cape York, Rockingham Bay, Port Denison, Wide Bay District, 

 Richmond and Clarence Rivers Districts, New South Wales, 

 Victoria and South Australia, Tasmania, West and South- West 

 Australia. (^Ramsat/.) 



Genus LOBIVANELLUS, Strickland. 



LOBIVANELLUS LOBATUS, Latham. 

 Wattled Plover. 

 Gould, Handbk. Bds. Aust., Vol. ii., sp. 500, p. 218. 



" The Spur-winged Plover breeds during September and the two 

 following mopths, in some localities a month earlier or later. The 



