88 
The Queensland Naturalist. August, 1935. 
Currawong. 
Raven. 
Spurwing Plover. 
Stone Plover (Curlew). 
Straw Necked Ibis. 
White Paced Heron. 
Little Pied Cormorant. 
Nankeen Kestrel. 
Scaly Breasted Lorikeet. 
Crimson Rosella. 
Kookaburra. 
Rainbow Bird. 
Fantail Cuckoo. 
Pheasant Coucal. 
THE BLACK-BREASTED PLOVER. 
( GONIFER TRICOLOR.) 
(By Mrs. Mary House. Theodore, Central Queensland.) 
Amongst the many interesting species of birds to be 
found frequenting our Central Dawson country, one of 
the most interesting and numerous is the banded, or as 
we call it, the black-breasted plover. As these birds meet 
in great numbers on the sand flats, and between the billa- 
bong backwaters about our home each season, I recently 
determined to make a few observations as to the length 
of time the eggs take to incubate, etc. 
The banded plover (Z onifer tricolor) is an attractive 
bird, neither so big nor so fierce as his cousin, the spur- 
wing ( Lohibyx Novae-hollandiae) minus the spur, and 
the yellow wattle face decorations, and his shrill cries are 
not so pugnacious, and not nearly so harsh. 
Spur-wing plovers sometimes nest hereabouts, but 
we never see so much of them, w T ith their snowy breasts 
and long red legs, on the sand flats. Our banded plover is 
brown, with a white abdomen, throat, shirtfront, and line 
through the eye. a handsome black band across his chest, 
like a dress waistcoat of the old style, black wing quills, 
a blood-red spot on either side of the bill, and rufous- 
brown legs. When flying, an effective white horizontal 
line is visible, extending from the centre back to the 
outer centre-wing. The first plover’s nest I located easily. 
The bird was evidently disturbed whilst laying by a flock 
of goats passing on either side of it, it flew up, and 
uttered shrill cries, swooping about to scarce the goats 
from its vicinity. Its nest was merely a depression amongst 
the grass, and the one egg already laid, was more light 
green than fawn coloured, as the one discovered last 
