262 BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
come from the plaintive single note which the last 
name expresses exactly. " Dotterel," I suppose, refers 
to the bird's appearance when on the ground or the 
sea-beach, where it runs about quite like a Sandpiper ; 
and of course the names " Ringneck " and " Ringdove " 
refer to its black pectoral crescent, which, by the way, 
is much fainter in the female, she being altogether a 
duller-coloured bird than the male. 
I suppose others have noticed how like the Chat's 
note is to that of the Chestnut-eared Finch ; we do 
not get the latter bird in this district, however, so 
no difficulty will be occasioned to the bird-observer 
by reason of the similarity. 
It is easier to say where the Chat is not found than 
where it is. Excluding timber country, which it 
does not like, the Chat is found throughout the 
length and breadth of our district, having an especial 
preference for river estuaries and samphire flats near 
the sea, and for patches of furze. In the autumn 
you may find it in bands ; I saw hundreds together 
following the plough for worms and insects on a 
farm at Avalon on April 29th, 191 2. Of these birds 
the great majority were males. 
The nesting-season runs from August to December. 
I should be inclined to say that most of the birds lay 
in October ; but the season is much earlier in the 
north (about the You Yangs) and later at the Conne- 
warre Lakes. 
I have seen the nest in a great variety of bushes 
and herbage, in which it is placed usually not more 
