DOUBLE-BANDED DOTTEREL 8i 
with which it is most likely to be confused, hy its 
rather stouter build and the presence of more or less 
markings on the chest. 
RED-CAPPED DOTTEREL 
Leucopolius ruficapillus ruficapillus 
The Red-capped Dotterel, an all-the-year-round 
resident on the margins of salt-water areas in our 
district, is characterised by a yellowish-rufous cap 
and pure white breast, the upper surface being 
brownish. Like all other wading birds, you will find 
it in flocks in the autumn, yet never far from its 
breeding-grounds. The best idea of its distribution 
will be conveyed if I mention the places in which 
during the past twenty years I have known it to nest. 
These are : North shore of Corio Bay (Avalon) ; 
Salt Pits ; Point Henry (extremity) ; Lake Victoria ; 
lagoons between Black Rock and Bream Creek ; 
sandhills at mouth of Bream Creek. 
In all these places there is abundance of broken 
cockle or whelk shells, and it is among these that the 
eggs, two in number, are laid in the last part of 
September or the beginning of October. They are 
deposited in a hollow as big as the palm of your 
hand, generally on some little ridge on a bank of 
sand and broken shells, the nest itself being lined 
with small bits of the broken shells. When any one 
approaches, the Dotterel slips off her eggs and runs 
away in a direct line for perhaps ten yards ; then 
6 
