THE BIKDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
white fringes to the feathers ; a black line in front of the eye joined to a black patch 
on the sides of the face which extends in a hne on to the sides of the neck and is con- 
tinued in a large space of black round the lower-throat and sides of breast ; crown 
of the head, the feathers fringed with white, giving a streaked appearance ; hind- 
neck white, the feathers tipped with brown and buff ; a black spot on each side of 
the nape ; the feathers of the mantle white, tipped with chestnut and a small black 
elongated spot ; some of the feathers of the back and scapulars are chestnut tipped 
with black, while others are black tipped with chestnut ; rump dark brown ; tail 
mostly white with a broad subterminal black band, the outermost pair of feathers 
white with the exception of a brown spot on the inner web near the tip ; lesser 
upper wing-coverts dark brown, some of the innermost white, those on the outer 
edge white with a subterminal brown spot ; bastard-wing and outer median coverts 
brown, the inner ones for the most part chestnut ; greater coverts brown margined 
and tipped with white ; 'primary-co verts and primary- quills brown, the latter 
paler brown on the inner webs, with white shafts and white on the outer webs 
towards the base ; secondaries for the most part brown margined and tipped with 
white, the innermost brown varied with chestnut and white, some of the feathers 
pure white ; bill black, eyes brown, feet red, joints brown. Total length 225 mm. ; 
culmen 25, wing 155, tail 61, tarsus 24, 
Adult female, in hreeding-pluma,ge. Similar to the male but with more black on the mantle 
and less chestnut ; the feathers on the crown of the head black margined with brown ; 
the white on the sides of the head and fore-part of crown not so clearly defined. 
Adult, in winter-plumage. Differs from the breeding-plumage in the entire absence of 
chestnut on the upper-surface where it is replaced by dark brown, or black, with pale 
brown margins to the feathers ; head and hind-neck dusky-brown more or less 
intermixed or streaked with white like the ear-coverts and sides of face, the feathers 
on the sides of the upper-breast very similar. 
Immature. Upper-parts dark brown with paler brown edges to the feathers of the scapulars 
and upper wing-coverts ; entire head, sides of face, hind-neck and sides of neck 
dusky brown becoming black on the fore-neck and sides of breast, where the 
feathers are more or less edged with white. 
Nest. A shght depression, sometimes fined with grass. 
Eggs. Clutch, four. Ground-colour pale green, marked all over, but more on the larger 
end, with irregular markings of olive-brown and lavender ; axis 40-43 mm., 
diameter 30. 
Breeding-season. June and July (Middendorff, East Siberia). 
My collector, Mr. J. P. Rogers, found this bird in small flocks at Point Torment, 
North-west Australia, in December, 1910 ; they were rare in January, February, 
and March of the following year. He also reports them as rare near Derby. 
I have skins obtained at Roebuck Bay, North-west Austraha, in November, 
1895, and at Richmond River, New South Wales, in May, 1892. The bird in 
the foreground of the plate is a female, collected on Rotnest Island, West 
Australia, on August 12th, 1903. 
Mr. Tom Carter tells me that he found it a common species on the beach 
in North-west Australia, especially in the summer months, but odd birds could 
be .seen all the year round. He also found it at Albany in South-west 
Australia. 
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