222 
THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA 
Eggs. — Five or six, sometimes as many as eleven, creamy-buff or a 
faint buffy-white, spotted and blotched with brownish-red, purplish-red, 
and pale violet-grey markings. Breeding-season : October to January. 
9. Bush-hen Amaurornis ruficrissus Gould 
Am-aur'-orri-is — Gk, amauros, dark; Gk, ornis, bird: ru-fi-criss -us L., 
rufus, red ; L., crissum , vent feathers. 
Distribution. — Northern Territory and northern Queensland. 
Notes. — Usually singly or in pairs, frequenting swampy areas, chiefly 
of the coastal districts. It is similar in habits and economy to the other 
species of Rails. 
Nest . — An open structure, composed of coarse grass and other 
herbage ; generally well concealed, and built in a tussock of .grass. 
Eggs. — Four to six, white or faint creamy-white, dotted, spotted, and 
finely blotched with pale purplish-red and purplish-grey markings, inter- 
mingled with underlying markings of violet-grey. Breeding-season : 
October to March. 
10. Australian Pratincole Stiltia Isabella Vieillot 
Stilt' -i-a — N.L., stiltia, from English stilt: is-a-bell-a— N.L., Isabella, from 
the colour isabelline. 
Distribution. — Australia (except Western Australia south of the 
Fitzroy River) ; also occurs in Borneo, Java to New Guinea. 
Notes. — Also called Swallow Plover. Usually in flocks, frequenting 
the dry inland plains. It is a migrant, generally arriving during September 
or October, departing in February or March. Plains and bare areas, 
entirely destitute of vegetation, are its chosen habitat. It runs over the 
ground with great rapidity ; its flight, although appearing clumsy, is never- 
theless light and buoyant, and is characterized by erratic zigzag motions. 
Food : insects, captured both on the ground and on the wing. 
Nest. — A bare space on the ground. 
Eggs. — Two, pale stone-colour, covered all over (sometimes very 
heavily) with irregular-shaped markings of dark brown and underlying 
ones of grey. Breeding-season: September to February. 
11. Australian Dotterel Peltohyas australis Gould 
Pel-to-hy-as — Gk, pelte, shield; Gk, hyas, a plover: australis — southern 
(Australian). 
Distribution. — Australia (except the northern, eastern, and south- 
eastern coastal districts). 
Notes. — Usually in pairs or small flocks, frequenting plains and the 
samphires growing on the margins of lakes and streams. It appears to be 
nomadic in habits, although in many localities it is found throughout the 
year. If approached carefully it is not timid, but when startled, flies 
a considerable distance before alighting again. Its call-note resembles 
