THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
“ It commences breeding early in the spring ; its simple nesting-place 
may be found on ‘ the plains ’ or in river beds. It lays three oval-shaped eggs, 
greenish-brown, much sprinkled with dark-brown markings ; they measure 
1 inch, 4 lines in length with a breadth of 1 inch. 
“ The young are exceedingly active, the httle brown puffs of down may 
be observed running with great swiftness on being alarmed. In the autumn 
the Dotterel assembles in flocks of considerable numbers.” 
BuUer* says “This pretty little Dottrel is very common on our shores, 
and is frequently met with also at a considerable distance inland. It associates 
in flocks, and is always to be found on the ocean-beach, or on the dry sands 
and grassy plains in the vicinity of the coast ... it is very commonly met 
with on the pastures several miles from sea. 
“It is more active in its habits than the preceding species {Char, ohscurus), 
running swiftly near the sands, and stopping at short intervals to bob its 
head and utter a rather plaintive note. It rises in the air with a very 
rapid movement of its wings, and usually adopts a circular course, the whole 
flock wheeling simultaneously and descending to the ground in an oblique 
direction. 
“ In the high sandy flats near the sea shore where the bright pingao 
grass mixes with the wild sage, this bird may always be met with in the 
breeding-season, which commences as early as August ... In the location of 
its nest itself there is very little attempt at concealment, the bird apparently 
trusting more for protection to the assimilative colouring ; but after the 
young are hatched out, the old birds (particularly the female) manifest con- 
siderable sohcitude for the safety of their offspring, and feign lameness or a 
damaged wing for drawing intruders away, a device which very often succeeds. 
The young bird runs the moment it quits the shell, and is not slow to second 
its parent in the art of self-preservation. Its sandy-colouring makes it 
almost indistinguishable when squatting on the ground, and it has the instinct 
to remain perfectly motionless the moment it hears the note of alarm, even 
allowing itself to be handled without betraying a sign of vitality.” 
The bird recorded as this species by Ramsay from CardweU is probably 
C. mongolus. I consider the bird described by me as above from South-west 
Australia must for the present be referred to the typical form, as the characters 
I utilised for separation have also been observed in Neozelanic specimens and 
have not there proved constant. 
The bird figured and described is a male. 
This at the present time constitutes one of the problems of Australian 
ornithology. A very ordinary bird in New Zealand, it has been thought that 
* Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 4, 1888. 
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