KUNGL. SV. VET. AKADEMIENS HANDLINGAR. BAND 52. N:O |7. 41 
the llth of July, curiously enough, only females were shot with big eggs in uterus. 
On the 24th of July the birds had paired. I have observed two birds that behaved 
like AZgialitis minor (L.), when one approaches its nest. One of the birds ran in 
front of me with its wings dragging, and sometimes lying down on the ground pre- 
tending to be hurt. Nevertheless I did not succeed in finding eggs or young. 
AEgialitis melanops VIEILL. 
Math. handl. n:r 158. 3 998 ad. Nooncanbah, Kimb: !7/;e 1910, moult.; 3 SSI ad. ibid. !2/:2 1910, 15/1, 
21/; 1911, moult. in wing and tail or tail only; SJ ad. Derby, Meda ?/5 1911; 2 SS ad. Beagle bay, Dampier 
land ?/7 (moult. on the hind neck and on the black band), 2/7, ?2/7 1911. 
Adults. — The female bigger than the male. The bill of the latter shorter, 
higher at the base, red without yellow. The bill of the female longer and with a 
yellow tinge. 
Variants. — The Dec. spec. like the July spec. One bird differs partly from 
the others. Compared with a specimen shot the same day (””/r, both males ad.) it 
shows the same difference as from the others. This specimen has the black patch 
on the back of the neck much bigger than that of the other specimens, the black 
colour going a little down the back. The black of the forehead also extends farther 
back than in the other specimens. 
Moulting. — The spec. !”/12 in strong moulting: back, wing coverts, the black neck- 
band, the scapula. On the other hand neither the wing-feathers nor the tail-feathers 
seem as yet to be dropped and regrown. The spec. !"/; has also pins in the black 
neck-band and scapulares and on the back-part and besides that the tail is dropped 
and replaced, the wing-feathers also replaced; the first pair is the last in growing 
out. In the spec. ”/ the innermost tail-feathers are growing out, the inner primaries, 
too, and the black neck-band and the back part are also moulting. And now we 
have the July specimens. Even those show moulting. Thus, for instance, the first 
primary is growing out in the spec. ””/+; apart from this it does not now seem to 
be moulting. The spec. ”/1 shows pins in the black neck-band, in the scapula-feathers 
and on the back-part but not in the tail or wings. The moult in July agrees with 
that of the following species (Himantopus). 
Ecological. — After the rains this bird appeared in flocks in the neighbour- 
hood of Mowla Downs (the 30th of Nov. and later). 
In Dec. and Jan. it was rather frequent up at Nooncanbah, Fitzroy (WIDELL). 
The 4th of May I shot it at Meda, where it was seen here and there at »the billa- 
bongs»> (pools of water) and in the month of July at Beagle bay, where it lived at 
the creeks. 
Himantopus leucocephalus VIEILL. 
Math. handl. n:r 161. 3 SS ad. Nooncanbah, Kimberley ?9/12 1910, moult., 3/1 1911, moult.; & ad. 
Beagle bay, Dampier land !9/7 1911, moult. 
Adults. — The female has a brown shade on the back and no gleam on the 
black of the hind-neck, which is more brownish-black. 
K. Sv. Vet. Akad. Handl, Band 52. N:o 17. 6 
