222 
THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA 
it utters an alarm note, “Krek,” which is instantly answered by other birds 
in the vicinity. Food: insects, seeds, small freshwater molluscs, and the 
green shoots of various plants. 
Nest . — A flat structure, composed of dried grasses and herbage, and 
generally placed in or near a tussock of grass or among herbage. 
Eggs .—Five or six, sometimes as many as eleven, creamy-buff or a 
faint buffy-white, spotted and blotched with brownish-red, purplish-red, 
and pale violet-grey markings. Breeding-season: October to January. 
9. Australian Pratincole Stiltia Isabella Vieillot 
Stilt'-i-a —N.L., stiltia, from English stilt: is-a-bell-a - 
the colour isabelline. 
N.L., isabella, from 
Distribution. —Australia (except Western Australia south of the 
Fitzroy River) ; also occurs in Borneo, Java to New Guinea. 
Notes. —Also called Swallow Plover. Usually in flocks, frequenting 
the dry inland plains. It is a migrant, generally arriving during September 
or October, departing in February or March. Plains and bare areas, 
entirely destitute of vegetation, are its chosen habitat. It runs over the 
ground with great rapidity; its flight, although appearing clumsy, is never¬ 
theless light and buoyant, and is characterized by erratic zigzag motions, 
rood: insects, captured both on the ground and on the wing. 
Nest. —A bare space on the ground. 
Eggs.—Two, pale stone-colour, covered all over (sometimes very 
iea\iy) with irregular-shaped markings of dark brown and underlying 
ones of grey. Breeding-season: September to February. 
10. Australian Dotterel Peltohyas australis Gould 
Pel-to-hy -as Gk, pelte, shield; Gk, hyas, a plover: australis— southern 
(Australian). 
( '*“ P * ** n ° rthc ™’ 
sn,™im»?',7n USUally pairs °. r sma11 flocks > frequenting plains and the 
Z c °,", the , marglnS ° f lakGS and streai ” s - It appears to be 
vn t i 1 t ;i i a h ° UR ! V. 1 man - y localities jt found throughout the 
a considlrn t r d C ^ e { n]l y * 1S not timid, but when startled, flies 
“Ouick” Uttered ance .. J . e ^. olc ap gbt' n g again. Its call-note resembles 
nSe like »Kr mot ” a p gl ? ly - metalllc tone, and it also has another low 
note like Kr-root. Food: insects of various kinds and seeds. 
Nest .—A depression in the ground. 
with^S^T h ' n e n e ‘°J::; e ’ rich c !i eam or buff > sparingly sprinkled all over 
black with ] few P n n?i? e elongated crooked markings of chocolate- 
has occasion to leave tf d ° tS a " d dashes of a lighter tint. When the bird 
season: April, May, ^ 
