PLATE 



XLII. 



GENUS LOBIVANELLUS (Strickland). 



A USTRALIA claims two species of this genus, one occupying the north and the other the south 

 of the Continent, and, as yet, they are believed to be peculiar to this part of the globe, 

 though they have their representatives in India and Africa. 



LOBIVANELLUS LOBATUS. 



WATTLED PLOVER. Genus: Lobivanellus. 



THE Wattled and Masked Plovers are, perhaps, the most beautiful of the family Charadriadoe, both 

 in form and plumage. Though inhabiting different latitudes, they seem equally numerous in both. 



The Wattled Plover is commonly found throughout the eastern and southern colonies, and as 

 far south as the islands in Bass' Straits, particularly on Green Island, where Gould found it breeding 

 in January, 1839. But in spite of its nearness to Tasmania, this Plover has never been seen there. 



It is usually found to prefer open flats, in the vicinity of marshy ground, though high sterile 

 grounds, such as are found in the Straits' Islands, offer equal attractions. It subsists upon insects and 

 worms. It has a noisy, daring disposition, and is locally known as the " Alarm Bird,", from the 

 habit it has of rising into the air, wheeling round and round, and uttering shrill cries at the approach 

 of an intruder, which has the effect of forewarning not only its own kind, but every other species of 

 animal in the neighbourhood. 



Should its nest or young be near, this Plover hides its alarm and lures the intruder away 

 by a multitude of daring manoeuvres, such as rising into the air and rushing suddenly down upon you 

 with extended spur, with which it can inflict a nasty scratch, and then careening off in some opposite 

 direction ; or else it will feign lameness or a broken wing, and so lure you from the sacred spot. 



The egg, described for the first time by Mi' J. A. Campbell, is " elegantly shaped, contracted 

 towards the smaller end ; ground colour, ol a rich, warmish green, boldly splashed and blotched all 

 over with markings of a darker shade, and olive. Length, 2 inches ; breadth, 1 inch 5 lines." 



The sexes are alike ; both possess the spur on the shoulder, but it is much more developed 

 in the male than in the female. The wattle is a beautiful primrose colour, a tint that appears 

 again in the bill, and large, bold eye ; its legs are a pinky vermilion, and these colours, contrasting 

 with the soft lines of the plumage, make this one of the most beautiful Plovers yet known. 



Head, back of the neck, sides of the chest, and primaries, jet black ; sides of the face, 

 throat, and all under surfaces, pure white ; tail, white, crossed at the extremity by a band of black ; 

 back, wing-coverts, and scapularies, dark greyish-brown, inclining to cinnamon ; eye and wattles, rich 

 primrose-yellow ; bill, pale yellow, with a horn-coloured tip; tarsi, purplish-red; scales, black; spur, 

 yellow. 



Habitats : Rockingham Bay, Port Denison, Wide Bay District, Richmond and Clarence River 

 Districts, New South Wales, Interior, Victoria and South Australia. [Ramsay.) 



