THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
of the primaries, the edge of the wing black, the upper tail-coverts broadly 
tipped with black and none of the inner secondaries entirely pure white.” 
These features appeared so constant, that when my “ Reference List ” was 
compiled I included three forms as inhabiting Austraha, using for the species- 
name H. longirostris. 
Recent acquisitions and the examination of more material proved this 
course to be inaccurate, and once more the investigation as to the correct 
name has involved a review of all the Old World specimens available. 
The typical form was so well-known to the older authors that in the 
tenth edition of the Syste^m Naturce, Linne (p. 152, 1758) gave no description 
but simply quoted eight references as illustrative of the bird. As the first 
two referred to his own works on Swedish birds, that place has been accepted 
as the type-locahty of H, ostralegus, Bonnaterre’s Ostralega pica {Tabl. 
Ency. Meth. Ornith,, Vol. I., p. 26, 1791) and Pallas’s Hoematopus hypoleuca 
{Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat.^ Vol. II., p. 129, 1827) are simply new names for Linne’s 
bird. Brehm {Vogel DeutscTil., pp. 562-563, 1831) added a couple of synonyms 
in naming H. halthicus and H. orientalis. 
All the Pied Oystercatchers wherever met with seem to have been 
included under the one species, until Vieillot {Nouv. Diet, d’Hist. Nat., 
Vol. XV., p. 410, 1817) separated HcBinatopus longirostris as follows : — 
Le bee de cette espece est plus long que celui des autres et de couleur rouge. Son 
plumage est en general noir, i I’exception du bas de la poitrine et des partes posteriem’es 
que sont d’un blanc pur. On le trouve dans I’Australasie. Je soupgonne que Vhuitri&r 
totalement noir, qui se trouve dans la meme partie du monde et dans le nord-ouest de 
I’Amerique septentrionale, appartient a la meme espece. 
A few years after, probably ignorant of Vieillot’s action. King named 
H(B7natopus picatus {Survey Intertrop. Coasts Austr., p. 420, 1826) thus : — 
H. ater : corpore subtus, fascia alarum, uropyigo, caudaeque basi, albis ; remigibus 
primoribus totis nigris. 
Rostrum ped'Csque, rubri ; collum totum nigrum ; tectrices inferioris primores fuscae, 
secondariae albae, ad carpum et ad marginem exteriorem nigro-variegatae : fascia alarum 
angusta : remiges primores supra nigrae, subtus fuscae ; utopygium album parce nigi’o 
variegatum. 
Longituda corporis ab apice rostri ad apicem caudae, 22 ; alae a carpo ad remigem 
primam, 11 ; rostri 3 3 /lO ; tarsi 2 3 /lO, caudae 6. 
When Gould commenced his Synopsis of the Birds of Aiistraha, he named 
almost every bird he handled on the principle that Austrahan birds must be 
different on account of the locality. At the end of that work he added a long 
list of new species and genera and included therein, p. 6 : — 
Hcematopus australasianus. Head, neck, breast, back, wings and the tail feathers, for 
three parts of their length from the tip, deep greenish-black ; the tips of the wing-coverts, 
abdomen, rump, upper and imder tail-coverts and the bases of the tail feathers pure 
white ; bill deep orange ; feet red. Total length, 17 inches ; bill 3| ; wing 10| ; tail 4^ ; 
tarsus 2|. 
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