Order CHARADRIIFORMES 
Family HJEMATOPODID^. 
No. 160. 
H.EMATOPUS NIGER FULIGINOSUS. 
EAST AUSTRALIAN BLACK OYSTERCATCHER. 
H^matophs njLiGiNOStJS Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VI., pi. 8, 1845 ; Tasmania. 
Hcemato'pus fuliginosus Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VI., pi. 8, 1845 ; id., Handb. Birds 
Austr., Vol. II., p. 217, 1865 ; Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. I., p. 187, 
1877 ; North, Birds County Cumberl., p. 109, 1898 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., 
p. 23, 1908. 
Heematopus niger australasianus Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Sci. (Paris), Vol. XLIII., 
p. 420, 1856. 
Ucematopiis unicolor Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 197, 1878 ; id.. Tab. 
List Austr. Birds, p. 19, 1888 ; Legge, Papers and Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasm., p. 130, 
1888 ; North, Austr. Mus. Cat., No. 12, p. 300, 1889 ; Legge, Proc. Austr. Assoc. 
Adv. Sci., Vol. IV., p. 982, 1892 ; Campbell, ih., Vol. V., p. 427, 1893 ; Sharpe, 
Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXIV., p. 118, 1896 (pars) : Hall, Key Birds Austr., 
p. 80, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 778, 1901 ; id. (A. G.), 
Emu, Vol. II., p. 208, 1903 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 80, 1906 ; Littler, 
Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 123, 1910 ; Campbell and White, Emu, Vol. X., p. 198, 
pi. XX., 1910. 
Hcematopus unicolor fuliginosus Mathews, Nov. Zool,, Vol. XVIII., p. 214, 1912. 
Distribution. South Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia. 
Adult male. Entirely glossy black above and below ; “ Bill orange yellow ; iris red ; 
eyelid orange yellow ; feet dull brick red ” (J. Gould). Total length 520 mm. ; 
culmen 82, wing 297, tail 124, tarsus 51. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male, but larger, browner, and with a longer biU. 
Nestling, in down. Sooty-brown with white tips on the upper-parts ; head black as also two 
longitudinal lines on the back. 
Nest. A depression in the earth. 
Eggs. Clutch, two ; very similar to the eggs of H. o. longirostris but the ground-colour 
seems darker ; axis 65 mm., diameter 44. 
Breeding-season. September to December (Ramsay), August to January (Littler, 
Tasmania). 
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