Chapter II: Part 2

In the next Order, the Sixth, there are three Australian birds. They are called Grebes. Bird names often reflect some habit, e.g., Scratchers, Cooers. So Grebes are often called Divers. But the Divers of the ornithologist are Northern Hemisphere birds, placed in the next family (25).

There is a widespread tradition to the effect that Grebes wait for the flash of the cap, and then dive before the bullet can reach them. They are, indeed, remarkably active in the water, but are absurd on land. Their legs are set so far back that it is almost impossible for them to walk. Their toes are not webbed, but are broadly lobed.

The Great Crested Grebe is identical with the British bird, for it is found all through the Eastern Hemisphere.

This is a remarkable distribution, when we consider that the bird, by reason of its very small wings, is a poor flyer, and is almost helpless on land. Such a wide distribution of a creature possessing poor means of locomotion indicates that the animal must have existed for a long time, so that it has been able to gradually extend its range. Thus we conclude it is an ancient form.

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[Page 24]

[30] [31] [32] [33] [34]]

ORDER VI.--PODICIPEDIDIFORMES.

F. 24. PODICIPEDIDAE (3), GREBES, 25 sp.--5(2)A., 8(2)O., 6(0)P.,
5(1)E., 6(0)Nc., 11(7)Nl.

2 15

=29 Black-throated Grebe= (Little), Dabchick (e),
White-bellied Diver (e), _Podiceps novae-hollandiae_, Java,
N.G., A., N. Cal., =vt. Eur. Little Grebe.

Stat. c. _lagoons_ 9.5

Upper blackish-brown; white patch on wing; under silvery-gray;
throat, side-face black (summer), brown (winter); beautiful
fur-like plumage; lobed toes; f., sim. Small fish, snails, insects.

[Page 25a]

=30* Hoary-headed Grebe=, Dabchick (e), "Tom Pudding," P.
_poliocephalus_, A., T.

Stat. c. _lagoons_, _river_ 9.5

Upper brown; wings white patch; under silvery-gray; head short
white hair-like plumes (summer); head brown, throat buff (winter);
fur-like plumage; lobed toes; f., sim. Small fish, snails, insects.

1 3

=31 Great Crested Grebe= (Tippet), Loon, Gaunt, Carr Goose,
_P. cristatus_ (_Lophaethyia cristata_, Mathews' Handlist),
Eur., N. Asia, Japan, Africa, India to A., T., N.Z.

Stat. r. _lakes_, _rivers_ 24

Upper brown; under glistening-white; crown black; neck-frill
chestnut edged black (summer); face, neck whitish (winter);
fur-like plumage; lobed toes; f., sim. Small fish, snails, insects.

F. 25. _Colymbidae (Gaviidae)_, True Divers, Loons, 5 sp.--1(0)O.,
5(0)P., 2(0)E., 5(0)Nc.

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In the next order come those remarkable birds, Penguins. As so much has been said about Penguins by Lieutenant Shackleton's party, they have caught the popular fancy, and people are much interested in them. Many Australians do not know that three Penguins are found on their own coast. It was one of the sights of the 1910 Summer School at Portsea to sit on the balcony and watch the Penguins chasing their prey in the clear waters in front. Their wings are paddles, being flattened and devoid of quills. The wings are not folded, but are carried hanging awkwardly at the side.

During the interest aroused by Peary's expedition to the North Pole, an illustrated weekly paper published a cartoon, which showed the American Eagle sitting on the North Pole and reading a proclamation to an audience of Penguins. One thing is unfortunate about this--Penguins are unknown in the Northern Hemisphere. Indeed, they support the geographer in his contention that, while the Pacific Ocean is very ancient, the Atlantic Ocean has been formed much more recently, for Penguins are found up the Pacific even to the Galapagos Is. on the Equator, but have not spread into the Atlantic Ocean beyond Tristan da Cunha, at the extreme South.

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[Page 25b]

ORDER VII.--SPHENISCIFORMES.

F. 26. SPHENISCIDAE (3), PENGUINS, 17 sp.--11(7)A., 6(1)E., 9(4)Nl.

1 5

=32 Crested Penguin= (Tufted, Jackass, Victoria), _Penguinus
(Catarrhactes) chrysocome_, Southern Ocean (circumpolar), V.,
T., N.Z.

Occ. r. _coasts_ 27

Wing a paddle; upper black; under silvery-white; crest yellow;
f., yellow crest feathers shorter. Sea-animals.

2 3

=33 Little Penguin= (Little Blue), _Eudyptula minor_, N.S.W., V.,
S.A., T., N.Z.

Stat. c. _coasts_ 18

Upper light-blue; under glistening-white; wing a paddle; f., sim.
Sea-animals, plants.

=34 Fairy Penguin=, _E. undina_, V., T., N.Z.

Stat. c. _coast_ 13.5

Like 33, but smaller.

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Order VIII. includes the true ocean birds--those wanderers seen far from any land by ocean travellers. Indeed, many of them do not go near land except to breed. Then they usually repair to small lonely islands often with bold precipitous shores.

Ocean birds are readily divisible into four families. The first is made up of the 25 Storm-Petrels; the second of the 75 Petrels, Shearwaters, Fulmars, and Dove-Petrels; the third family comprises only the three small southern Diving-Petrels; while the fourth contains the nineteen noble Albatrosses.

Though Storm-Petrels and Petrels of various kinds may be seen in the Northern Hemisphere, yet the Southern Hemisphere, with its enormous expanse of water, is the headquarters of these birds.

The dainty, tiny Storm-Petrels, fearlessly tripping over the mountain billows in times of great danger to the sailor, were considered birds of ill-omen. Their peculiar flight possibly helped this idea. Gould closely studied them and other ocean birds during his voyages on sailing ships. He describes them as "fluttering over the glassy surface of the ocean during calms with an easy butterfly-like motion of the wings, and buffeting and breasting with equal vigor the crests of the loftiest waves of the storm; at one moment descending into their deep troughs, and, at the next, rising with the utmost alertness to their highest point, apparently from an impulse communicated as much by striking the surface of the water with its webbed feet as by the action of the wings."

This habit of "walking" on the sea is said to be responsible for the name "Petrel," which is associated with Saint Peter, who, of old, walked on the waters. Sailors call them Mother Carey's Chickens.

The largest Australian Storm-Petrel is the Whitefaced Storm-Petrel, whose scientific name, _Pelagodroma_, means "open sea wanderer." It has been recorded even from the North Atlantic and Britain. Many thousands of these birds still nest on Mud Island, a sandbank just inside Port Phillip Heads. The presence there of a true ocean wanderer is a valuable piece of evidence to support the geographer in his claim that Port Phillip Bay once had a wide opening, which has been almost closed by the drift of sand across its mouth. The Storm-Petrels have probably nested there for many, many centuries. Long may they continue to do so! They hurt no one, and they are a feature of interest to all interested in the flora and fauna of Australia, and to natural history students and Nature-lovers in general.

The Shackleton expedition met the Wilson (Yellow-webbed) Storm-Petrel, in considerable numbers, far south. Two specimens were presented by Lieutenant Shackleton to the National Museum, Melbourne. However, recently our Museum received, through the agency of two schoolboys, a specimen that is valued even more highly, for it is Australian.

The boys, on their way to the Marshaltown State School (Mr. H. B. Williamson, H.T.), found a bird near a fence about nine miles inland. It had evidently been killed by flying into the fence in the dark. Using the _Bird-List_, the boys discovered that it was a Yellow-webbed Storm-Petrel, a truly pelagic bird, as its name, _Oceanites oceanicus_ indicates. Mr. Williamson, to show that the _List_ was of assistance, even to boys, in identifying birds they had never heard of before, left the bird at the Continuation School, Geelong. Here it was recognized as a valuable specimen, and was at once sent to Mr. Kershaw, curator of the National Museum. It is now in the Australian collection.

The true Petrels are very numerous in kinds and individuals. Darwin thought that the most numerous of birds was a Petrel. One of great interest is the "Mutton-Bird," or Short-tailed Petrel. This romantic bird breeds by the million on Cape Woolamai and other places about Bass Strait.

Just as the mallee farmer is dependent on his annual wheat harvest, so the remarkable colony of people living on Cape Barren Island is entirely dependent on the annual Mutton-Bird harvest. They claim to take about a million and a half birds each year. The number is probably much exaggerated, for Littler, in his valuable _Birds of Tasmania_, gives the number as 555,000 for 1909, valued at about L4000. Bass and Flinders were glad to replenish their stores with young Mutton-Birds. Flinders calculated that one flock of these birds he met in Bass Strait contained 132,000,000 birds. They lay but one egg, so one would expect the Petrel to be long-lived. We found a closely-similar bird nesting on Mast Head Island, Capricorn Group.

The three southern Diving Petrels, forming the next family, are much smaller than the common Petrels. They are expert divers, and are found mainly in the far South.

The mighty Albatross, with its enormous wing-span of possibly up to 14 feet, is also largely a southern bird. That this bird has spread to the North Pacific Ocean, but has not yet penetrated any distance into the Atlantic, is another piece of evidence as to the age of these two oceans. The Pacific Ocean is a very ancient depression, while the Atlantic is much younger, and has been formed since the lands which border its shores. The Black-browed Albatross, however, was once seen in England. Probably this bird might have been carried north on board ship, and then set free again. Fossil bones of Albatrosses have been found in France and England. Their remarkable power of wheeling round and round a vessel, with no perceptible movement of the wing, has excited much interest and controversy.

Mr. Froude, in his _Oceana_, has given a vivid description of this flight. The Albatross "wheels in circles round and round and for ever round the ship--now far behind, now sweeping past in a long, rapid curve, like a perfect skater on an untouched field of ice. There is no effort; watch as closely as you will, you rarely or never see a stroke of the mighty pinion. The flight is generally near the water, often close to it. You lose sight of the bird as he disappears in the hollow between the waves, and catch him again as he rises over the crest; but how he rises, and whence comes the propelling force, are to the eye inexplicable; he alters merely the angle at which the wings are inclined...."

Gould considered that many of these birds circumnavigate the globe many times. They follow ships for days together.

Albatrosses are sometimes caught by those on board ship. One means of protection employed by these birds is to discharge a considerable quantity of oily matter at an intruder. This has led sailors to declare that the bird is "seasick." Some claim that this is not done for protection, but is due to fright.

The members of the Australasian Ornithologists' Union, when on a trip in the _Manawatu_ to the Bass Strait Islands found it tantalizing to see the beautiful Shy Albatrosses sitting on their nests on the precipitous granite Albatross Rock, and be unable to land owing to the rough sea that was running. We waited a second and a third day, in the shelter of Chimney Corner, Three Hummocks Island, but finally had to depart with but a distant acquaintance with this fine bird. When they return to nest the succeeding year, the parents drive last year's brood off the island. Does the young live on its fat all through the cold, rough winter, or do the parents return at intervals to feed it? Some recent records by a French party on one of these lonely nesting islands show that in some cases, at least, the parents do feed the young at night during their long wait. The sitting bird is fed by her mate. He opens his mouth, and she inserts her bill, and chooses a dainty for herself.

_A Monograph of the Petrels_, by F. Du Cane Godman, F.R.S., Pres. British Ornithologists' Union, was consulted for Order VIII.

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[Page 26]

[36] [37] [38] [39] [40]]

ORDER VIII.--PROCELLARIIFORMES, TUBINARES, TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS.

F. 27. PROCELLARIIDAE (5), STORM-PETRELS, MOTHER CAREY'S CHICKENS,
25 sp--10(3)A., 2(0)O., 10(0)P., 7(0)E., 13(4)Nc., 13(3)Nl.

2 3

=35 Wilson Storm-Petrel= (Yellow-webbed, Flat-clawed),
_Oceanites oceanica_, S. Polar regions N. to British Is.
(acc), Labrador (acc.), India, A., N.Z.

c. _ocean_ 6.8

Blackish; base tail above below white; legs black; webs yellow;
f., sim. Shellfish, small fish, greasy.

[Page 27]

=36 Gray-backed Storm-Petrel=, _O. (Garrodia) nereis_, S. Oceans,
A., T., N.Z.

r. _ocean_ 6.7

Sooty; abdomen, under base tail whitish; bill, feet black; f., sim.
Oily substances, shellfish.

1 1

=37 White-breasted Storm-Petrel= (White-faced), Frigate Petrel,
Mother Carey's Chicken, _Pelagodroma marina_, S. Oceans, N. to
Canary Is., U.S. (acc.)

c. Mud. Is. _ocean_ 8

Upper brownish-gray; crown, line under eye, edge of wing, tail
black; under, face, throat, line above eye white; bill, feet black;
webs yellow; f., sim. Shellfish, oily matters.

2 4

=38 Black-bellied Storm-Petrel=, _Cymodroma (Fregetta) melanogaster_,
S. Oceans, to N. Atl., A., T.

r. _ocean_ 7.5

Sooty-black; under base tail, flanks white; bill, feet black; f.,
sim. Sea-animals, oily.

=39 White-bellied Storm-Petrel=, _C. grallaria_, S. Oceans to B. of
Bengal, Atl. to Cancer, Florida (acc).

r. _ocean_ 7.2

Upper, neck, chest black; under, rump white; bill, feet black;
f., sim. Sea-animals, oily.

F. 28. PUFFINIDAE (29), PETRELS, Shearwaters, Fulmars, Prions,
75 sp.--47(16)A., 7(0)O., 24(0)P., 30(2)E., 22(4)Nc., 37(7)Nl.

7 25

=40 Wedge-tailed Petrel= (Shearwater), _Puffinus sphenurus_,
A. seas.

v.r. _ocean_ 17.5

Sooty-brown; wing blackish; tail black; throat ashy-gray; under
dull ashy-brown; bill lead color; legs, feet livid flesh color,
dusky on inner side of leg and toe. Like 42, but tail longer;
f., sim. Food as for 41.

[Page 28]

[42] [43] [44] [45]]

=41 Allied Petrel=, Gould Shearwater (Little Dusky), _P. assimilis_,
A. and N.Z. Seas, Atl. O. to Madiera Is., Nova Scotia (acc.).

Flocks v.r. _ocean_ 11

Upper, crown, wings, tail sooty-black; side face, under white;
side-chest dusky; bill dark horn-colour; legs greenish-yellow;
f., sim. Shrimps, shellfish, seaweed.

=42 Short-tailed Petrel= (Sooty, Bonaparte), Slender-billed
Shearwater (U.S.), Seal-Bird, Mutton-Bird (V.), _P. brevicaudus
(tenuirostris)_, A., Bass St., T., N.Z. Migrates to Alaska, Japan.

Flocks, c. _ocean_ 14

Sooty-brown; under paler; bill blackish-brown; legs, feet
light-grey, black down outer side. Food as 41.

3 3

=43 Brown Petrel= (Great-Gray), Black-tailed Shearwater (U.S.),
Night Hawk (e), Bully, Kuia, _Procellaria (Priofinus) cinereus_,
S.O., California (once).

r. _ocean_ 19.5

Crown, upper dark brownish-gray; under white; under base tail
ashy-brown; tail black; feet grayish-flesh color; outer toe
brownish-black; dives; f., sim.

1 1

=44 Silver-gray Petrel= (Fulmar), Slender-billed Fulmar (U.S.),
_Priocella glacialoides_, Bass St., A., T., N.Z., S. Oceans,
Pacific to Japan, Alaska.

c. _ocean_ 18

Pearly-gray; tip-wing black; face, under silky-white; f., sim.
Dead animals, oil, cuttlefish.

3 3

=45 Black Petrel= (Fulmar), Taonui, _Procellaria (Majaqueus)
parkinsoni_, A. and N.Z. Seas.

r. _ocean_ 18

Sooty black; f., sim. Food see 41.

9 32

=46 Great-winged Petrel= (Long-winged, Gray-faced), _AEstrelata
macroptera_, A., N.Z., S. Oceans.

v.r. _ocean_ 15

Dark brown; about bill, throat gray; wing-quills, tail black;
bill, feet black; f., sim. Food see 41.

[Page 29]

[47] [48] [49] [50] [51]]

=47 Brown-headed Petrel=, Solander Fulmar, _AE. solandri_, 1 specimen
only, Gould, Bass St.

u. _ocean_ 16

Head, wings, tail dark-brown; back slaty-gray, marked dark-brown;
bill, legs black.

=48 White-winged Petrel=, _AE. leucoptera_, A., N.Z. to C. Horn,
Fiji.

r. _ocean_ 13

Upper dark slaty-gray; forehead, face, under, under wing white;
wings blackish-brown; eyes, bill black; legs, half toes and webs
fleshy-white; tip toes and webs black; f., sim.

1 1

=49 Giant Petrel= (Fulmar), Mother Carey's Goose, Nelly, Glutton,
Stinkpot, Vulture of the Seas, _Macronectes gigantea_, S. Oceans
up to 30 deg. S. Lat. Oregon (acc).

c. _ocean_ 33

Dark chocolate-brown; bill horn-color; has also a white phase;
f., sim. Scavenger, omnivorous.

1 1

=50 Cape-Petrel= (Pintado, Black and White, Spotted, Pied),
Cape-Pigeon (-Fulmar), _Daption capensis_, A., N.Z., S. Oceans
to Brazil, Ceylon, Peru, acc. to California, Maine, England.

Large flocks c. _ocean_ 16.5

Head, hind-neck, upper-back, edge of wing, quills, chin sooty-brown;
inner-wing, back white, broadly spotted sooty-brown; under white;
bill, feet blackish-brown; f., sim. Food as 41.

5 5

=51 Blue Petrel=, _Prion (Halobaena) coerulea_, S. Oceans, A., T.,
N.Z. to Icepack, Fiji.

c. _ocean_ 11

Forehead, cheeks, throat, centre-chest, under white; upper
grayish-blue; outer wing-quills black; tail square, tipped white;
bill blackish-brown; f., sim. Cuttlefish, shellfish.

[Page 30]

[53] [54] [55] [56] [57]]

=52 Broad-billed Dove-Petrel= (Blue-), Whale-Bird, Prion, _P.
vittatus_, S. Oceans.

c. _ocean_ 11.5

Upper delicate blue-gray; head darker than back; edge shoulder,
wing, tip-tail black; under, line over eye, white; flanks blue;
broad bill blue tipped black; feet light-blue; f., sim. Cuttlefish.

[Page 31]

=53 Banks Dove-Petrel= (Blue-), Prion, Whiroia, _P. banksi_,
S. Oceans, A., T., N.Z.

r. _ocean_ 10

Like 52, but bill narrower and paler blue-gray; expanded wings show
black marks like letter W. Food as 54.

=54 Dove-Petrel=, Dove-like-Petrel (-Prion), Whale-Bird
(Snow-), _P. desolatus_, S. Oceans.

c. _ocean_ 10.5

Like 52, 53, but more delicate; blackish below eye; white
stripe above eye; head same as back; bill straighter, more
slender; f., smaller. Shellfish, oily substances.

=55 Fairy Dove-Petrel= (-Prion), Short-billed (Gould)
Blue-Petrel, _P. brevirostris (ariel)_, S. Indian O., A.,
Bass St., Madeira, S. Africa.

v.r. _ocean_ 9.5

Like 52, 53, 54, but bill shorter, stouter; head same as back;
white face.

F. 29. PELECANOIDIDAE (1), DIVING PETRELS, 3 sp.--2(0)A.,
1(0)E., 3(1)Nl.

1 3

=56 Diving-Petrel=, Smaller Diving Petrel, Tee-tee,
_Pelecanoides urinatrix_, A., N.Z., Str. of Magellan.

r. _sheltered bays_ 8

Upper black; under white; legs, feet blue; dives; f., sim.
Shellfish.

F. 30. DIOMEDEIDAE (10), ALBATROSSES, Mollymawks, 19
sp.--13(3)A., 2(0)O., 5(0)P., 5(1)E., 5(0)Nc., 9(3)Nl.

7 17

=57 Wandering Albatross=, Man-of-War-Bird, Cape Sheep, Toroa,
_Diomedea exulans_, S. Oceans up to Lat. 30 deg. S.

c. _ocean_ 44

Upper white with fine zigzag brown lines; wing-quills black;
tail short, black above; side face, under white; zigzag lines
on side of breast; bill whitish; color varies with age; span
up to 14 ft.; f., sim. Jelly-fish, shrimps, shellfish.

[Page 32]

[59] [60] [61] [62] [63]]

=58 Royal Albatross=, _D. regia_, A., T., N.Z. Seas.

c. _ocean_ 44

Lately separated from 57, because young have white down
instead of gray; adult has no zigzag lines; f., sim. Food see
57.

=59 Black-browed Albatross= (Mollymawk), _D. melanophrys_, S.
Oceans, England (once).

v.c. _ocean_ 32

Head, neck, under, upper base tail white; blackish-gray
streak through eye; wings dark brown; back slaty-black; tail
dark-gray; bill buff-yellow; f., young sim. Fish.

[Page 33]

=60 White-capped Albatross=, shy Mollymawk, _D.
(Thalassageron) cauta_, A. Seas, Bass St.

c. _ocean_ 31

Back slaty-gray; rump white; wings dark-gray; tail slaty-gray;
head, neck, under white; blackish streak through eye; bill
horn-color; f., smaller. Fish, barnacles, shrimps.

=61 Flat-billed Albatross=, (Yellow-nosed (e),
Gray-headed), Gould Yellow-nosed Mollymawk, _D. chrysostoma
(culminata)_, A., Indian O., Pacific O., Oregon
(cas.) G. of St. Lawrence (cas.).

r. _ocean_ 28

Back, wings, tail dark grayish-black; head, neck gray; faint
blackish streak through eye; under, rump white; bill black,
tip, crest, lower-edge yellow, f., sim. Food see 60.

=62 Yellow-nosed Albatross= _D. chlororhynchus_, S. Atl. O.,
S. Ind. O., A., T.

c. _ocean_ 30

Under, head, neck, rump white; back, wings brownish-black,
tail brownish; bill black, crest bright orange-yellow, tip
blood-orange; faint dark streak through eye; f., sim. Food see
60.

1 1

=63 Sooty Albatross=, _Phoebetria palpebrata (fuliginosa)_, S.
Oceans, Oregon (cas.), A., N.Z.

c. _oceans_ 29.5

Sooty-brown; white ring almost round eye; bill black; f., sim.
Food as 60.

F. 31. _Alcidae_, Auk, Garefowl, Puffin, Razorbill, Guillemot,
Murre, 28 sp.--22(1)P., 27(6)Nc.

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The birds of Order IX. are mainly shore birds. There are four chief kinds of these--Terns (Sea-Swallows), including Noddy Terns, Gulls, the remarkable northern Skimmers, which skim along the surface with the lengthened end of the lower mandible in the water, and the bold sea-pirates, Skuas. Fifty-seven Terns and Noddies are found throughout the world. Of these, twenty-one have been recorded from Australian waters.

Being powerful flyers, it is not surprising to find that several of the Australian Terns are really Old-World, and even New-World, forms too. Thus the Whiskered (Marsh) Tern is also British. The Caspian, Gull-billed, and Bridled (Brown-winged) Terns are British and American, while the Sooty Tern is found in all tropical and sub-tropical seas. It is one of the famous birds of the world, for it is the "egg bird" of sailors. It retires in large companies to low scrubby islands to breed. Here it lays a single egg on the bare ground. Sailors, tired of ship's fare, often visit these "rookeries." Gould quotes a record of one party which took 1500 dozen eggs on one small island in Torres Strait. Spanish eggers from Havanah take cargoes, which are disposed of at 25 cents per gallon.

The Wide-Awake Fair, of Ascension Island, is a famous annual event in natural history. A similar scene has been described by Mr. A. W. Milligan, the well-known West Australian ornithologist, on the Houtman Abrolhos Island, west of Western Australia. Here acres of the ground were covered by birds sitting on their nests. The question is, does each find its own nest when it returns to sit? Mr. Milligan settled this in the affirmative by tying a piece of string to a sitting bird and then letting it take flight. It found its own egg, and resumed its work. It is noteworthy that no two of the million eggs are similarly marked, and this puzzling variation in marking probably assists each bird to recognize its own egg.

One of the daintiest of these birds is the Fairy Tern, which was common on Mud Island while the 1909 Summer School was being held. Obedient to the call of the mother bird, which hovered threateningly overhead, the mottled and striped young one squatted on the shelly sand beach while bird-lovers hunted around for the material for a photograph. At length the dark eye revealed the beautifully-protected young bird.

As the camera was being fixed, a different call from the mother caused the young one to run away. Three or four naturalists tried to catch the active little bird, which stopped for a moment and disgorged two whole small fish, with which its mother had evidently but recently fed it. Eventually a good picture was obtained. These Terns nest singly, though others nest in large companies. They obtain fish by diving into the sea. It was interesting, on a Nature-study excursion, to watch the Crested Terns diving frequently into the sea above a shoal of small fish at Sandringham.

We found the Noddies breeding in thousands on Mast Head Island, in the Capricorn Group. They built a small platform of leaves, or seaweed, high or low, on every possible nesting site on the great _Pisonia_ trees. In fact, there is an interesting kind of partnership between the bird and the tree. The fruits of the _Pisonia_ have bands of sticky glands, which adhere to the plumage of the birds. After a time the fruits fall off, possibly on another island, and so this interesting tree is spread throughout these small coral sandbanks and islets. The birds are sometimes so loaded and clogged with these fruits that they are incapable of flight. Surely here is a wonderful partnership between the tree-frequenting Noddy and the forest tree that provides shelter and nesting places for it. It is, indeed, a marvellous method of seed dispersal.

The number of ocean birds breeding on these tiny island-paradises is amazing. Minute Mast Head Island is a place free of all pests--no flies, no mosquitoes, no ticks, no snakes, nor prickly plants, but a deep shady forest of giant _Pisonia_ trees, sometimes covered with creepers and lianas, and fringed with pretty flowering shrubs, fig trees, and long green grass, and surrounded, above spring-tide level, by a fringe of graceful Horse-tail Sheoaks (Casuarinas). We calculated that over 100,000 birds bred annually on this 100-acre sandbank, no point of which rose 10 feet above spring-tide level. The graceful White-capped Noddies already mentioned nested high and low on the trees and shrubs. Petrels in thousands burrowed in the sand under the giant _Pisonias_, which are so thickly foliaged that not enough light penetrates to enable undergrowth to flourish, so the sand was practically bare in the centre of the island. Reef Herons nested low on spreading branches or interlacing roots. Silver Gulls and Oyster-catchers nested on the ground, within about a yard of the spring-tide mark; Doves, Silver-eyes, Bell-Magpies (_Streperas_), Caterpillar-eaters, Kingfishers, and other land birds nested in the trees, while the White-bellied Sea-Eagle (almost a fac-simile of the Bald Eagle of America) had his nest overlooking all, on the highest tree on the island. The Frigate Birds were not nesting on Mast Head Island, but they roosted each night in the tall Sheoaks at the water's edge. It was a treat, in the late afternoon, to see these glorious birds winding up their invisible staircase into the vast void of upper air. Gloriously and calmly they sailed up and up, until the merest speck only could be seen. Of corals, turtles, and other marvels we may not speak here. The migrating wading-birds had just reached the island after their long journey from Siberian Tundras. Some were so poor that we caught Sandpipers by hand. Flocks of Turnstone, Golden Plover, Godwits, Curlew, and other wading-birds were there, possibly only resting before continuing their journey to the South. It was indeed a privilege to live on such a spot for nine days and to see Nature in some of her most interesting phases.

The two Australian Seagulls illustrate the "law of representatives" so often referred to by Gould. It is strange how often a closely similar representative of a Northern bird is found in Australia. Thus the big Pacific Gull is the representative of the large Gull of Europe, though its peculiar deepened and orange-colored bill is distinctive. It does not gain its beautiful white and black plumage until it is three or more years old, being brown in the first year, and brown and white in the second year.

The Silver Gull is known to all. Though a dainty-looking bird, it has a bad character. It is worse than any bird of prey for stealing eggs and young birds, for let a gannet or other nesting bird but leave the nest for a moment, and Gulls quickly rob it of its contents. They are scavengers, and eagerly follow a steamer at lunch-time to gather the scraps. An interesting sight of Currie Harbor, King Island, is to see the large company of Seagulls nesting undisturbed on a tiny, bare, rocky islet close to the pier.

It was noted that, whenever the Noddies were disturbed, and rose, protesting loudly, the Gulls immediately gathered and hovered over the trees containing Noddies' nests. Evidently they were looking for unprotected eggs.

Placed in the next family are the seven robber Gulls or sea pirates--Skuas. We read of these birds in the old _Royal Readers_, but few recognized them when they followed us to the Summer School of 1910. They also followed our afternoon-tea cruise to South Channel fort, and played their usual game of compelling the Seagulls to give up the scraps they had gathered. The Robber Gull, or Skua, of Victoria is, strange to say, identical with the Skua of England. The one that followed the s.s. _Lady Loch_ to the Summer School is better known in England as the Arctic Gull or Richardson Skua. It breeds in the far North, so it is a great traveller.

One interesting fact about these birds is that they show two sets of plumage. Thus, while each bird, as it gets older, usually changes its immature and almost uniform dusky plumage for a white under-surface, an incomplete white collar, and a blackish cap, yet some retain the dusky plumage throughout life. This is a good example of "dimorphism," as it is termed. Usually, instead of picking up their own prey, they watch until some other bird has captured a meal, and then they rapidly pursue it and cause it to disgorge. They do not skim over the waves like Petrels, but show a heavy, labored flight, varied by a short soar. As the two centre tail feathers project beyond the rest, the birds can be readily identified as they follow a steamer for tit-bits.

====

[Page 34]

[65] [66] [67] [68] [69]]

ORDER IX.--LARIFORMES.

F. 32. LARIDAE (21), TERNS, NODDIES, GULLS, Skimmers, 125
sp.--32(13)A., 35(3)O., 45(1)P., 42(6)E., 43(5)Nc., 46(19)Nl.

2 4

=64 Whiskered Tern= (Marsh), _Hydrochelidon fluviatilis
(hybrida)_, Eur. (Br.) to China, Malay, Afr. to A.

r. _swamps (inland)_ 11

Head black; upper, wings, tail light-gray; face, throat, tail
white; chest dark-gray; abdomen black; bill blood-red; winter,
head grayish-white; f., sim. Water-insects, small fish.

[Page 35]

1 1

=65 Gull-billed Tern= (Long-legged), _Gelochelidon macrotarsa
(anglica)_, cos.
[~65-66 _Genus Thalasseus._]

r. _rivers_, _swamps inland_ 17

White; crown, hind-neck black; upper, wing-quills
silvery-gray; bill long, stout, black; long legs and feet
black; winter head white streaked black; f., sim. Small fish,
insects.

1 1

=66 Caspian Tern=, Taranui, _Sterna (Hydroprogne) caspia_,
cos. exc. S. Amer.
[~65-66 _Genus Thalasseus._]

c. _shore_ 20.5

Head, hind-neck black; back, wings, tail pale-gray; dark-gray
wing-quills; under white; bill scarlet; dives; f., smaller.
Fish.

10 37

=67* Crested Tern= (Swift, Rueppell, Bass-St., Torres-St.),
Village Blacksmith, _Sterna bergii_, Red S., Indian O., to
Japan to A., Pac. Is.

v.c. _ocean_ 17

Crown, crest black; forehead, sides and back of neck, under,
white; back, wings, tail dark-gray; bill yellow; legs, feet
black; f., sim. Fish.

=68 White-fronted Tern= (Southern), _S. striata (frontalis)_,
E.A., T., N.Z.

c. _shore_ 13

Upper delicate-gray; wing-quills grayish-black; forehead,
side-neck, under white; bill, about eye, hind-neck black; f.,
sim. Small fish.

=69 Bridled Tern= (Brown-winged, Panayan, Smaller-Sooty), _S.
anaestheta_, tropical, sub-tropical seas.

v.c. _shore_ 14.5

Upper light sooty-brown; forehead, line over eye, throat,
under white; crown, nape, line from bill past eye black; bill,
legs, feet black; like 70, but smaller; back, wings brown; f.,
sim. Fish.

[Page 38]

[87] [102] [106] [107] [109] [119] [123] [125]]

=81= Black-breasted Plover
=87= Black-fronted Dottrel
=102= Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
=106= Australian Snipe
=107= Australian Painted Snipe
=109= Southern Stone-Curlew
=119= White-fronted Heron
=123= Nankeen Night Heron
=125= Australian Bittern

[Page 40]

[71] [72] [73] [74] [75]]

=70 Sooty Tern=, Wide-awake, Egg-bird, _S. fuliginosa_ (_S.
fuscata_, A.O.U.), tropical, sub-tropical seas, Br. (acc).
[~70 _Sterna fuscata._]

v.c. _shores_ 17

Upper, crown, wings, line from bill past eye, tail black;
forehead, under white; bill, feet black; like 69, but larger,
blacker above; f., sim. Fish, squid. "Oo-ee."

=71* White-faced Ternlet=, Sea-swallow, Little (Fairy) Tern,
Taraiti, _S. nereis_, A., N.Z. =vt. Eur. Little Tern.

c. _shore_ 10.5

Upper silvery-gray; under, rump, tall, forehead white; crown,
hind-neck black; bill, feet orange-yellow; f., sim. Small
fish.

[Page 41]

1 45

=72* Silver Gull= (Jameson), Seagull, Sea Pigeon, _Larus
novae-hollandiae_, A., T., N. Cal., N.Z. (acc).

Stat. c. _shore_, _inland_ 17.5

Head, neck, under, rump, tail white; back, wings
delicate-gray; wing-tips white and black bars; bill, legs,
feet blood-red; eye white; f., sim. Scraps, eggs, omnivorous.

1 1

=73* Pacific Gull= (Larger), _Gabianus pacificus_. A., T. =vt.
Eur. Greater Black-backed Gull.

Stat. c. _shore_ 25

"This fine gull;" head, neck, under white; tail white barred
black; back, wings slaty-black; eye white; legs yellow;
deepened bill orange tipped red; f., smaller; young up to 4
years mottled-brown, becoming more like adult each year. Fish,
crabs, carrion.

F. 33. STERCORARIIDAE (4), SKUAS, Robber Gulls, Sea Pirates, 7
sp.--4(0)A., 1(0)O., 4(0)P., 3(0)E., 4(0)Nc., 4(1)Nl.

1 4

=74 Great Southern Skua=, Robber Gull, Port-Egmont-Hen,
Sea-Hawk, Hakoakoa, _Megalestris antarctica_, S. Oceans, A.,
N.Z. =vt. Eur. Great Skua.
[~74 _Catharacta._]

Mig. r. _shores_ 23

Upper blackish-brown; under chocolate-brown; wing white patch;
centre tail feathers project 1/2in.; f., sim. Stolen fish,
carrion.

2 3

=75 Richardson Skua= (Arctic), Arctic (Parasite) Gull,
Long-tailed Jaeger, Sea-Pirate, Boatswain-Bird, Teaser,
_Stercorarius crepidatus_, cos.
[~75 _Catharacta parasitica._]

Mig. r. _shores_ 20

Dimorphic (two phases)--1. Dusky upper; blackish cap; narrow
whitish collar; under white; brown band on chest; brown band
on wing; centre tail feathers project 3ins.; strong bill,
claws. 2. Under mottled and barred brown and whitish; follow
bay steamers; f., sim. Stolen fish.

====

The fifty Australian birds included in the important order of Waders are remarkably like such birds found inhabiting other regions of the globe, shore conditions apparently being somewhat similar the world over. It is interesting to note that thirteen of the forty-four Australian members of this family of Plover-like birds are also found in Britain, and that most of the others are direct representatives of closely-related birds found in other Countries. No less than twenty-eight of these birds are merely visitors here, for they breed away in the far North. Many even nest within the Arctic Circle, in Siberia, for it is a rule that a migrating bird nests in the colder of the two countries visited. Strictly, these twenty-eight species are Siberian, or at least northern, forms, and not Australian birds.

Many members of this group undergo a seasonal change of plumage when breeding time comes. As they spend this season in the Northern Hemisphere, we do not see them in their brilliant colors, but in quiet, mottled browns and grays.

Some are "accidental" visitors to Australia. Possibly they find their way here by getting mixed with a company of allied birds on their annual journey south. Thus the Common (British) Sandpiper is a very rare bird here, though it retains its British name--Common Sandpiper. Similarly, other European and American birds have been recorded, and the number of these far-wandering birds recorded from Australia is likely to be still further increased. The stout, short-legged Turnstone is the most cosmopolitan of birds. Breeding in Siberia, so widely does it roam, that it has visited almost every shore in the world, where, true to name, it turns the stones in search of sandhoppers.

The two "Oyster-catchers"--"Redbills"--are representatives of similar birds found almost the world over. Their deepened, flat bill is said to serve as a pick-axe to force open oysters and mussels. We found one or two pairs on almost every shore we visited about Bass Strait, on Eyre Peninsula, and on the Barrier Reef.

The two common Plovers--the Spurwing and Black-breasted--do not migrate, so we see them in brighter colors. Still, though bright when noticed, they are yet wonderfully protected, as they stand quite still. I felt great astonishment on finding that I had driven, near Lake Tyrrell, into the midst of a company of over a thousand Black-breasted Plovers, not noticed until the eye picked out one and then another. It recalled to mind the scene in the _Lady of the Lake_, when Fitz James found the hillside alive with Roderick Dhu's warriors.

The White-headed Stilt, or Long-legged Plover, is one of five species spread throughout the world. Some people have pretended to pity the Stilt for being one of Nature's misfits, but surely they never saw the bird in a state of nature enjoying life, and gaining an easy living on shallow tidal flats, its long legs being a beautiful adaptation to the environment in which it lives.

The Banded Stilt is a purely Australian bird, and has no representative in other countries. These and some other shore-birds live about tidal flats, and get their food in the soft mud. Their long bill is often flexible, and the tip is sometimes well supplied with nerves, so that it is sensitive. The bird can thus detect, in the soft mud, any animal that would serve for food. It can then open its bill enough to catch the animal without trouble. The Avocet's bill is sharply curved upwards, and is one of the most remarkable of such organs. The Australian Avocet is one species of a cosmopolitan genus.

Some of the Dottrels live on the dry, open plains of the interior; others frequent the beaches and shores.

When a bird of prey appears, these plain-living birds squat quite flat, placing even the head flat on the ground. They thus escape detection, for the protective coloring of these birds and of their eggs is marvellous. The story of how a photograph of a Dottrel's nest was obtained is of value to teachers, for it will remind us that it is not well to neglect the three R's, and that Nature-study alone will not give a complete education. Three bird-lovers spent some time trying to find this nest, while the parent birds flew noisily around. Suspecting at last that the birds' knowledge of numbers was probably deficient, the three hid behind a log. Two then walked away. The birds immediately returned to the nest, and a valuable photograph was the result. A training in Nature-study, valuable as it undoubtedly is, is thus not all of our work.

The Painted Snipe breeds in Australia, but the Australian Snipe breeds in Japan, so it, properly speaking, is not an Australian bird. Think of the journey twice a year! Six of these wading-birds even visit New Zealand each year. How do they find their way there, across a gap of over 1000 miles, without any land whatever? Inherited memory is strong, but how did the first batches find their way? Their annual journey supports the geographer in his surmise that Australia at no very distant date extended very much farther to the east. Indeed, these birds almost certainly follow the old coast of the Australian continent.

Snipe, some Plovers, Dottrels, Curlews (Sea), Whimbrels, Godwits, &c., thus go to the North each year to partake of the abundant banquet of fruits, &c., preserved in the great ice chamber of the North. Numberless flocks of birds follow up the melting ice, and so nest unmolested on the great tundras and plains of Siberia. They wear their bright wedding dress in the far North, and are known here only in the quiet mottled browns and grays. In autumn these birds depart. They travel mostly at night, to avoid Birds of Prey, and so are seldom seen, though they may be heard calling as they pass high overhead. They are occasionally seen with the aid of telescopes as they pass across the face of the moon.

The Pratincole, or Swallow-Plover, is a representative of an Old-World family. Its long wings and long legs denote a rapid runner and a rapid flyer, so that it has little trouble in catching its insect food, either in the air or on the ground.

Our inland Stone-Curlew has a call very similar to that of the sea (true) Curlew, but it has a short, straight bill, instead of a long, arched bill. The proper name of the land Curlew is the Southern Stone-Curlew or Stone-Plover. It is the only Australian bird that seems to have the power of varying the color of its eggs. If the eggs are laid in grass, they are greenish; if amongst ironstone, the eggs are reddish-brown; if on sand, the eggs are tawny; and so on. Other ground-laying birds seem to pick out the soil that matches the color of their eggs, and lay there only. Possibly local races of the Southern Stone-Curlew keep to the one class of country. However, the eggs do match the surroundings, and the birds nest on different kinds of soil and rock.

In Family 42, the only Australian bird is the Australian Bustard, our representative of a widely-spread family, a member of which formerly bred in Great Britain. It is the well-known "Wild Turkey." As it is a good table bird, it is generally shot on sight. This is a mistake, as it is (as Mr. C. French, Government Entomologist, has pointed out) worth many times its table value as an insect destroyer. None of the family has spread to America. As no Bustard occurs in the regions between Australia and India, this bird supplies a good example of what is known to zoo-geographers as "discontinuous distribution." "Discontinuous distribution," as applied to land animals, _e.g._, marsupials found in America and Australia, ratite birds in South America, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, or the tapir, found in Central America and Malaysia, implies a land connexion (not necessarily complete at any one period) to allow of the gradual spread of the animals. Of course, as flying birds can pass easily from one region to another, "discontinuous distribution," as applied to them, cannot have so much importance attached to it as indicating previous land connexions.

====

[Page 42]

[77] [78] [79] [80] [81] [82]]

ORDER X.--CHARADRIIFORMES.

F. 34. _Chionididae_, Sheathbills, Kelp-Pigeons, 3 sp.--2(2)E.
1(1)Nl.

F. 35. _Thinocorythidae_, Seed-Snipe, Seed-Plover, 5 sp. Nl.

F. 36. CHARADRIIDAE (44), Waders, Plover-like Birds, 202
sp.--68(29)A., 75(5)O., 84(2)P., 70(24)E., 65(3)Nc., 74(28)Nl.

1 2

=76 Turnstone=, Sea-Dottrel, Calico (beach) Bird, _Arenaria
interpres_, cos.
[~76 _Morinella interpres._]

Mig. c. _shore_ 8

Winter plumage, mottled brown, black; summer plumage in far
north; black and white conspicuous; short bill black; legs,
feet, orange; f., duller. Sand-hoppers, shellfish.

[Page 43]

2 13

=77 Pied Oyster-catcher= (White-breasted, Black and white),
Seapie, Olive, Redbill, Torea, _Haematopus longirostris_,
Mol., N.G., A., T., N.Z., Chatham Is. =vt. Eur.
Oyster-catcher.

Stat. c. _shores_ 19.5

Black; abdomen, rump, base tail above, below white; eyes,
bill, legs red; bill 3.75in.; f., sim. Sand-hoppers,
shellfish, worms.

=78 Black Oyster-catcher= (Sooty), Redbill, Toreo-pango, _H.
fuliginosus_, A., T., N.Z.

Stat. c. _shores_ 18

Sooty-black; bill, feet, eye red; f., sim. Shellfish, worms.

1 1

=79 Red-kneed Dottrel=, Sandpiper (e), _Erythrogonys cinctus_, A.

Mig. r. _muddy river banks_ 7.5

Head, upper-neck, chest, black; throat, sides of neck,
abdomen, under base tail white; back olive-brown; middle tail
feathers olive, rest white; thigh, knee pink-red; f., sim.
Insects.

2 4

=80 Spurwing Plover= (Wattled), Alarm-Bird, _Lobivanellus
lobatus_, A., T.
[~80 _Lobibyx novae hollandiae._]

Stat. c. _plains_, _swamps_ 14

"One of most beautiful of plovers;" crown black; face,
hind-neck, rump, under white; upper brown; tail white tipped
black; wattle on face lemon-yellow; spur on shoulder; f., sim.
Insects.

1 1

=81* Black-breasted Plover= (Stubble, Flock, Plain), _Zonifer
tricolor_, A., T.

Stat. v.c. _plains_ 10.5

Upper brown; crown, line on face down to broad band on chest,
wing-quills black; line through eye, throat, abdomen white;
tail white barred black; spot at base of upper-bill blood-red;
f., spot lighter-red. Insects.

1 1

=82 Gray Plover= (Black-bellied), Gray Sandpiper (e), Maycock,
_Squatarola helvetica_, cos. 82
[~_Squatarola squatarola._]

Mig. r. _muddy shores_, _rivers_ 12

Crown, upper, wings, olive-brown mottled white; wing-quills
blackish-brown; rump white; tail white barred light olive;
face, under white, breast tinged buff; bill, feet blackish;
small hind toe; brighter in far North; f., sim. Insects,
worms.

[Page 44]

[84] [85] [86] [87]]

1 2

=83 Lesser Golden Plover= (Pacific, American, Australian,
Eastern), _Charadrius dominicus_, almost cos.
[~83-89 _Genus Charadrius._]

Mig. flocks, r. _plains near sea_, _rivers_ 9

Upper, tail dark-brown marked whitish; under mottled buff,
brown, white; line over eye, throat whitish; no hind toe;
brighter in far north; f., sim. Insects, worms.

4 8

=84 Double-banded Dottrel= (Banded), Pohowera, _Ochthodromus
bicinctus_, A., T., Norfolk Is., Lord Howe Is., N.Z.
[~83-89 _Genus Charadrius._]

Mig. c. _shores_, _grass_ 6.5

Upper brownish-gray; under white; black band on chest;
chestnut band on abdomen; forehead white; black line through
eye; eyelash scarlet; no hind toe; f., duller. Insects, worms.

=85 Oriental Dottrel= (Eastern, Asiatic, Mongolian), _O.
veredus_, Mongolia, China to A.
[~83-89 _Genus Charadrius._]

Mig. v.r. _sandy coasts_ 9.5

Indistinct mottled plumage; upper brown and buff; throat
lighter; abdomen white; slender bill dark-brown; legs long,
slender; no hind toe; f., sim. Insects, worms.

4 19

=86 Red-capped Dottrel=, Red-necked Plover, Sandlark,
_AEgialitis ruficapilla_, China to A., T., N.Z.
[~83-89 _Genus Charadrius._]

Stat. c. _shores_ 6

Crown, hind-neck rust-red; upper, wings pale-brown;
wing-quills blackish-brown; centre tail dark-brown, rest
white; under, forehead white; f., duller. Shellfish.

=87* Black-fronted Dottrel=, _AE. melanops_, A.
[~83-89 _Genus Charadrius._]

Stat. r. _rivers_, _pools_, _lakes_ 6

Forehead, broad band on chest black; throat, abdomen, stripe
over eye, round hind-neck white; eyelash bright-red; "active,
elegant bird;" f., sim. Insects, worms.

[Page 45]

[89] [90] [91] [92] [93]]

=88 Hooded Dottrel=, _AE. cucullata_, A., T.
[~83-89 _Genus Charadrius._]

Stat. c. _shore_ 8.3

Head, throat, upper-back black; hind-neck, under white;
lower-back light brownish-gray; middle tail feathers black,
rest tipped white; scarlet ring round eye; f., crown mottled
black, white. Sand-hoppers, worms.

1 1

=89 Australian Dottrel=, _Peltohyas australis_, A. =vt. Eur.
Common Dottrel.
[~83-89 _Genus Charadrius._]

Mig. v.r. _plains (interior)_ 8

Upper sandy-buff mottled with dark-brown; black band across
top of head from eye to eye; black collar on hind-neck
continued as a narrow V across chest; forehead, throat white;
m., duller. Insects.

1 7

=90 White-headed Stilt= (Pied), Longshanks, Stilt-bird,
Long-legged Plover, _Himantopus leucocephalus_, Great Sunda
Is., Mol., N.G., A. =vt. Eur. Stilt.
[~90 _Hypsibates_]

Nom. r. _swamps_, _lakes_ 15

White; hind-neck, back, wings black; long legs pink; f.,
smaller. Insects, pond-snails.

1 1

=91 Banded Stilt=, Rottnest Snipe (e), _Cladorhynchus
leucocephalus_, A.

Nom. v.r. _shallow lakes_ 13.5

White; broad chestnut band on breast; wings, centre of abdomen
black; long bill black. Plaintive whistle.

1 4

=92 Red-necked Avocet=, Cobbler, Cobbler's Awl, Painted Lady,
Scooper, _Recurvirostra novae-hollandiae_, A., T., N.Z. =vt.
cos. bird.

Nom. r. _lakes_, _tidal bays_ 15.5

White; head, neck chestnut; wings black; f., sim. Shellfish,
insects.

2 9

=93 Australian Curlew=, Sea-Curlew, _Numenius cyanopus_, E.
Sib., Japan to A. =vt. Eur. Common Curlew.

Mig. c. _tidal shores_ m., 21; f., 24

Arched bill 7in.; mottled brown; f., larger. Crabs, worms.

[Page 46]

[95] [96] [97] [98] [99]]

=94 Oriental Whimbrel= (Australian), Jack-Curlew, Mayfowl, _N.
variegatus_, E. Sib., Japan to A., T. =vt. Eur. Whimbrel.

Mig. r. _river_, _swamp_ 15

Brown mottled; chin, abdomen white; tail barred brown, white;
arched bill 3in.; f., sim. Crabs, shellfish, worms.

1 1

=95 Little Whimbrel=, _Mesoscolopax minutus_, E. Sib.,
Mongolia, Japan to A.
[~95 _Numenius minutus._]

Mig. v.r. _swamps_ 12

Upper blackish-brown much marked and spotted buff; under, line
past eye buff; arched bill 1.7in. Insects, worms.

[Page 47]

2 5

=96 Barred-rumped Godwit= (Pacific), Kuaka, _Limosa,
novae-zealandiae_ (_lapponica_, Am.O.U.), Alaska, California;
E. Sib. to A., T., N.Z., Oceania =vt. Eur. Barred-tailed
Godwit.
[~96 _Limosa baueri._]

Mig. c. _shores_ 15

Upper brownish-gray marked whitish; rump, tail barred brown,
white; abdomen white; legs brownish-black; broad, indistinct
whitish eyebrow; bill long, slightly upturned; f., larger.
Shellfish, worms, sand-hoppers.

=97 Black-tailed Godwit=, _L. limosa_, Br. Eur., N. Afr.,
India, E. Sib., Japan to A., Greenland (acc.), may be a
distinct species than called _L. melanuroides_.
[~97 _Limosa melanuroides._]

Mig. v.r. _shallow lakes_ 16

Upper grayish-brown; wing white band flying; lower-back
blackish-brown; upper base tail white; tail black, white at
side at base; neck, breast, flanks grayish-brown; abdomen
white; bill long, slightly upturned; f., larger. Insects, pond
snails, worms.

1 2

=98 Common Sandpiper=, Summer Snipe, _Tringoides hypoleucus_,
Eur. (Br.), N. Asia, Afr., Ind., to A. (acc.).
[~98 _Tringa hypoleuca._]

Mig. u. _shores_, _lakes_ 8

Upper pale-brown marked darker; wing-quills slightly tipped
white; centre tail feathers glossy-brown, side feathers white
barred brown; under white; chest marked pale-brown; indistinct
pale eyebrow; tail constantly jerked; f., sim. Water-insects,
shellfish.

1 1

=99 Greenshank=, _Glottis nebularius_, Br., Eastern
hemisphere, Florida (acc.).
[~99 _Tringa nebularia._]

Mig. r. _shores_, _lakes_ 14

Face, under, tail white; sides of breast streaked brown; edge
of tail barred freckled brown; crown, hind-neck gray; wings
dark-brown; upper light-brown; legs deep olive-green; f., sim.
Shellfish, worms.

[Page 48]

[101] [102] [103] [104] [105]]

1 1

=100 Sanderling=, _Calidris arenaria_ (_leucophoea_, Am.O.U.),
cos. exc. Pacific Is.
[~100 _Arenaria leucophaea._]

Mig. v.r. _sandy shores_, _swamps_ 7.5

Crown, back gray; white band on wing; sides, lower-back white;
eyebrow, forehead, face, under white; no hind toe; brighter in
far north; f., sim. Sand-hoppers, insects. "Wick."

[Page 49]

2 5

=101 Eastern Little Stint= (Little), Red-necked Sandpiper,
Land-snipe, Little Dunlin, _Pisobia ruficollis_, E. Sib.,
Jap., China to A., T., N.Z. =vt. Eur. Little Stint.
[~101 _Erolia ruficollis._]

Mig. flocks c. _shores_ 6.2

Upper ashy-brown mottled darker; wing-quills blackish-brown;
centre tail feathers blackish-brown; rest whitish; forehead,
under white; faint chestnut band on chest; bill, legs black;
brighter in far north; f., sim. Insects, shellfish.

1 5

=102* Sharp-tailed Sandpiper= (Siberian-, Asiatic-Pectoral),
Sharp-tailed Stint, Marsh Sandpiper, Marsh Tringa,
_Heteropygia aurita_, (_P. aurita_, Am.O.U.), Alaska, E. Sib.,
Japan, Ind, to A., T., N.Z.
[~102 _Erolia aurita._]

Mig. r. _coast_ 8.5

Upper dark-brown marked gray; crown faint rufous; wing-quills
dark-brown; face, under whitish, breast brownish; f., smaller.
Small water-animals.

1 1

=103 Curlew-Sandpiper=, Pygmy Curlew, Curlew-Stint,
_Ancylochilus subarquatus_ (_Erolia ferruginea_, Am.O.U.), A.,
T., N.Z., almost cos. exc. Pac. Is.
[~103 _Erolia ferruginea._]

Mig. flocks r. _shore_ 8.5

Upper grayish-brown; eyebrow, rump, under white, chest tinged
brown; bill 1.5 in., black, arched; brighter in far north; f.,
sim. Insects, worms.

2 2

=104 Knot=, Knot-Snipe, _Tringa canutus_, almost cos., A., T., N.Z.
[~104 _Canutus canutus._]

Mig. r. _tidal mud flats_ 9

Upper grayish-brown; under white; flanks, breast barred
grayish-brown; upper base tail white barred black; brighter in
far north; f., sim. Insects, worms.

=105 Eastern Knot= (Japanese), Great Sandpiper, _T.
crassirostris_, E. Sib., Jap., Ind. to A.
[~105 _Canutus magnus._]

Mig. v.r. _shore_ 11.5

Crown, neck, brownish-gray; back, wings brown; rump white;
tail brownish-gray; breast dark-brown marked white; abdomen
white; bill olive, 1-3/4 in.; brighter in far north; f., sim.
Insects, worms.

[Page 50]

[107] [108] [109] [110]]

1 23

=106* Australian Snipe= (Japanese, Latham), Jack Snipe,
Bleater, Long-bill, _Gallinago australis_, Jap., Formosa, to
A., T., N.Z. =vt. Eur. Snipe.

Mig. c. _swamps_ 9.5

Richly mottled; crown blackish with buff line along centre;
face, chin buff; breast, washed reddish-brown; brown bars on
flanks; back mottled brownish-black; under wings finely barred
black, white; chestnut band on tail; two black lines on face;
bill 2.7 in.; f., sim. Insects, worms.

1 3

=107* Australian-Painted Snipe=, Australian Rhynchaea,
_Rostratula australis_, A.

Mig. v.r. _grassy_, _bush_ 9.5

Beautiful mottled dotted; crown dark-brown, with buff line;
throat, chest dark, chin lighter; wing brown, spotted black,
white, buff; abdomen white; long straight bill 1.7 in.; m.,
duller, smaller. Insects, worms.

[Page 51]

F. 37. PARRIDAE (1), PARRA, Jacana, Water-Pheasant, 11
sp.--2(1)A., 3(2)O., 3(3)E., 1(0)Nc., 4(3)Nl.

F. 38. _Cursoriidae_, Coursers, 15 sp.--3(2)O., 1(0)P.,
13(12)E.

F. 39. GLAREOLIDAE (2), PRATINCOLES, Swallow-Plovers, 10
sp.--2(0)A., 4(1)O., 3(0)P., 7(5)E.

1 1

=108 Australian Pratincole=, Swallow-Plover, _Stiltia
isabella_, Borneo, Java to A., N.Z. =vt. Eur. Pratincole.

Mig. v.r. _(interior) rivers_, _marshes_ 9.5

Upper, wings, breast light-rufous, throat whitish; abdomen
chestnut; base tail above, below white; centre tail black,
rest white; bill red, tipped black, swallow-like flight; f.,
sim. Insects.

F. 40. _Dromadidae_, Crab-Plover, 1 sp.--1(0)O., 1(0)E.

F. 41. OEDICNEMIDAE (2), STONE-CURLEWS, Stone-Plovers,
Thick-Knees, 13 sp.--2(1)A., 3(1)O., 1(0)P., 7(6)E., 3(3) Nl.

1 1

=109* Southern Stone-Curlew= (-Plover) Willaroo, Scrub Curlew,
_Burhinus grallarius_, A., T. (acc.).

Stat. c. _sandy plains_, _timber_ 20.5

Crown, upper dark-gray, marked black; round eye white; throat
buff; chest, abdomen whitish, streaked blackish; white patch
on wing; legs long; bill short, black; f., sim. Insects,
berries. "Wee-lo."

F. 42. OTIDIDAE (1), BUSTARDS, 33 sp.--1(1)A., 7(2)O., 7(2)P.,
23(21)E

1 5

=110 Australian Bustard=, Wild Turkey (e), _Eupodotis
australis_, A.
[~110 _Choriotis australis._]

Mig. r. _plains_ 48

Crown black; face, neck grayish-white; upper, wings brown;
wings spotted black-white; black band on chest; abdomen white;
f., smaller. Seeds, grass, lizards, insects.

====

Australia, fortunately, has one representative of Order XI.--Cranes. This is the Native Companion, the only true Crane found in Australia. These are interesting birds, with their "quadrille parties," "corroborees," and dances. They live chiefly on vermin--insects, lizards, &c. The great Gould said: "Its presence adds greatly to the interest of the scenery." Would that more Australians thought so!

Cranes are amongst the best of flyers. They are said to fly sometimes at a height of from three and a half to five miles, and have been seen to cross lofty mountains in Central Asia without increasing their altitude. Perhaps because of its inappropriate name--Native Companion--some have proposed to regard this bird as the typical Australian bird, but it is not so. In fact, it is our one representative of an almost world-wide group.

====

[Page 52]

[112] [113] [114] [115]]

ORDER XI.--GRUIFORMES.

F. 43. GRUIDAE (1), CRANES, 19 sp.--1(1)A., 8(2)O., 9(1)P.,
7(5)E., 3(0)Nc., 2(0)Nl.

1 3

=111 Australian Crane=, Native Companion, Brolga, _Antigone
australasiana_, A.
[~111 _Mathewsia rubicunda._]

Nom. r. _plains_ 42

Deep silvery-gray; wing-quills black; naked red patch about
face, throat; legs, feet black; f., smaller. Insects, lizards,
bulbous roots, seeds.

F. 44. _Aramidae_, Courlans, Limpkin, 2 sp.--1(0)Nc., 2(1)Nl.

F. 45. _Rhinochetidae_, Kagu, 1 sp. A. (N. Cal.).

F. 46. _Mesoenatidae_, 1 sp. E. (Madagascar).

F. 47. _Eurypygidae_, Sun-bitterns, 2 sp. Nl.

F. 48. _Psophiidae_, Trumpeters, 7 sp. Nl.

F. 49. _Cariamidae_, Seriema, Saria, 2 sp. Nl.

====

In Order XII. Australia has representatives of the Ibises, Spoonbills, Storks, Herons, Egrets, Night Herons, and Bitterns, so well known in every part of the world.

Amongst the world's birds, few are better known than the Ibis. This bird was so highly prized by the ancient Egyptians as to be considered sacred, and they thought enough of it to embalm it. As Egypt depended on the overflow of the Nile for food supply, and as this overflow was heralded by the arrival of the migratory Ibis from the South, it was natural for the Egyptians to connect the rise of the river with this bird, and thus look for its approach. Again, the Ibis is an insect destroyer, and, as Egypt was subject to plagues of grasshoppers, it undoubtedly rendered as valuable service there as it does here. This is another reason that has been assigned for the esteem in which this valuable bird was held. However, it is now almost unknown in Egypt.