AN AUSTBALIAN BIRD BOOK. 
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2 77 Pied Oyster-catcher (White-breasted, Black and white), 
13 Seapie, Olive, Redbill, Torea, Haernatopus longi- 
rostris, Mol., N.G., A., T., N.Z., Chatham Is. =vt. Eur. 
Oyster-catcher. Stat. c. shores 19.5 
Black; abdomen, rump, base tail above, below white; 
eyes, bill, legs red; bill 3.75in.; f., sim. Sand-hoppers, 
shellfish, worms. 
78 Black Oyster-catcher (Sooty), Redbill, Toreo-pango, 
H. fuliginosus, A., T., N.Z. Stat. c. shores 18 
Sooty-black; bill, feet, eye red; f., sim. Shellfish, worms. 
1 79 Red-kneed Dottrel, Sandpiper (e), Erythrogonys cinc- 
1 tus. A, Mig. r. muddy river hanks 7.5 
Head, upper-neck, chest black; throat, sides of neck, abdo- 
men, under base tail white; back olive-brown; middle 
tail feathers olive, rest white; thigh, knee pink-red; f., 
sim. Insects. 
2 80 Spurwing Plover (Wattled), Alarm-Bird, Lobivanellus 
4 lohatus, A., T. Stat. c. plains, swamps 14 
"One of most beautiful of plovers;" crown black; face, 
hind-neck, rump, under white; upper brown; tail white 
tipped black; wattle on face lemon-yellow; spur on 
shoulder; f., sim. Insects. 
1 81* Black-breasted Plover (Stubble, Flock, Plain), Zonifer 
1 tricolor, A., T. Stat. v.c. plains 10.5 
Upper brown; crown, line on face down to broad band on 
chest, wing-quills black; line through eye, throat, abdo- 
men white; tail white barred black; spot at base of 
upper-bill blood-red; f., spot lighter-red. Insects. 
1 82 Gray Plover (Black-bellied), Gray Sandpiper (e), May- 
1 cock, Sqiiatarola helvetica, cos. 
Mig. r. muddy shores, rivers 12 
Crown, upper, wings, olive-brown mottled white; wing- 
quills blackish-brown; rump white; tail white barred 
light olive; face, under white, breast tinged buff; bill, 
feet blackish; small hind toe; brighter in far North; 
f., sim. Insects, worms. 
nest within the Arctic Circle, in Siberia, for it is a rule that a 
migrating bird nests in the colder of the two countries visited. 
Strictly, these twenty-eight species are Siberian, or at least 
northern, forms, and not Australian birds. 
Many members of this group undergo a seasonal change of 
plumage when breeding time comes. As they spend this season 
in the Northern Hemisphere, we do not see them in their brilliant 
colors, but in quiet, mottled browns and grays. 
Some are "accidental" visitors to Australia. Possibly they find 
their way here by getting mixed with a company of allied birds 
on their annual journey south. Thus the Common (British) 
Sandpiper is a very rare bird here, though it retains its British 
aame — Common Sandpiper. Similarly, other European and 
American birds have been recorded, and the number of these 
