THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
HcBinatopus niger hernieri Mathews ; West Australia. 
In a fair series of birds from West Australia none were found to possess the 
lustrous black of the Eastern form, though recent study seems to point to 
the fact that no very old birds have been handled from the West though 
apparently the birds are adult. The long tarsus, however, seems to be dis- 
tinctive, though the wing-length seems to come near to that of the Eastern bird. 
From these birds the typical (South African) birds are separable only by the 
somewhat stouter bill, with the groove in the culmen shorter. Seebohm 
wrote that the legs and feet of the South African bird were brick-red not 
deep crimson, as in the Australian ; but I have seen no African specimens 
with reliable data on them. 
Hcematopus niger fuliginosus Gould ; South-east Australia. 
These are larger, darker, and have a shorter tarsus. As noted above, the 
tarsus is the best feature for separation though the other characters may still 
hold good. 
H(B7natopus niger opihahnicus Castelnau and Ramsay ; North Australia. 
Easily separable by the bare space round the eye. 
Hce^natopus niger unicolor Wagler ; New Zealand. 
This form is well marked by the feature which Hartert pointed out — the 
knife-like culmen anterior to the nostrils ; but the bill is also much longer 
than in the preceding Australian forms. 
The American “ Sooty ” Oystercatchers do not seem to be close relations 
of these, as they have different shaped bills, brown wings and tail, and more 
slate-black on the head and under-surface. 
28 
