THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
wing on to the ground and the stiff feathers make a rustling noise. The sheep 
stop dead and perhaps either all run round one way or split into two flocks, 
leaving a clear space in which the bird and nest are quite safe. It is very 
comical indeed to watch such a proceeding. The young are also, by many 
devices, able to preserve themselves from danger; in dry years when the 
plains are bare and dry the young bird would have very little chance of living 
if it were not for its cunning. One afternoon as I was riding along, I could 
see some of this species in the distance. Riding towards them they ran away 
from the spot as quickly as they could, and I saw something move in an 
opposite direction for a fraction of a second, then fall forward as if one stood 
a stick on end and let it drop ; keeping my eyes on that spot, I rode straight 
to it, and after looldng carefuUy about I found a fluffy young plover. The 
parent birds came back alone and stood five or six yards away, and kept up 
a peculiar note the whole time I held the chick. I put it down, mounted and 
rode away, and looking back saw all three making off to what, they hoped, 
would be safer ground. 
“March and April, 1908, were so dry that for the first time, to my 
knowledge, these birds left the district. They returned on 2Ist April, or 
ten days before the rain came (1st May). 
“ These birds are very often heard at night. As I write two or three 
are caUing on the other side of the creek. In very hot weather, when the sun 
registers over 100 degrees, the plover on the plains seeks the shade of posts of 
the fences, and for miles one can drive and at every post see a plover in the 
scantv shade. 
“ They make no nest, but the eggs are placed in a slight depression. 
I have generaUj?' found three eggs to a clutch. 
“ I have frequently seen them drive Kestrels {Cerchneis cenchroides) away 
from their nests. I caught several young ones with speckled head, on the 
22nd of Oct., 1908. On May 9th, 1909, I found a nest of four eggs and next 
day noticed another pair whose actions on my approach showed me plainly 
that they were nesting.” 
Mr. Charles Belcher, also of Victoria, writes : “ This bird is variously 
known as Lapwing, Plain Plover, and Little Plover. It is probably more 
numerous than the Spur-wing in Victoria, but also more local in its distri- 
bution, for whereas you may be sure of finding the Spur-wing almost anywhere, 
the Black-breasted Plover keeps as a rule to wide open plains and rolling 
downs country, nor has it any partiality for swamps. I have seen large flocks 
on each side of the divide, particularly near Kyaham and Coleraine. These 
are formed at the end of the breeding season, which is at its height in August, 
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