h i a t i c u l a r u f i c a p i l l a .
Red-capped Dottrel.
Wftratlnm mficapiUm, Tfmm Syat; Avium, So. ?3.
~ nyrsmatia, Geoff. in Mus Paris.—L® s. ® uif t i u S T u . 544 —lb. Mam d'Orn., tom. it p. 318.—
B o n n . e t ^ ^ l j f f l e tK Offl [,yl i S i^ L v " ill 2nde. Edit, du Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat,
E tom ^y q i5 a a3 8
Hi ihn l, luf. aul , 1 .-fut-
§mi-Lark and B f d t m k e j g.™«. *
.C5K 11 salty. dispersed ovet-everypart o f jh p sea-shores of Australia that I have
ig U .J V " ‘ !jP,.!t y l f f i a J ' . t it j^ i^ f e f ^ e , t or^tb;'.vhijmlv baghjol the ocean and especially for
deupy.ult-" dt r hly^-Shati f o r ugr i S^ai,J.jiil.md Van Diemen’s
11,1 ,M(I sand-bai)J,s mouth j j f the g u ^ . im N e w South Wales and at Port
’ VthJ u h trt " ^ \ti ir tlja ju d \^ d hjLF t itc, th . T X < JinlK ilmndant in Western 4.,nr»i;a where
^ g l i k e i v i s f S ^ ^ ^ ! bird i^ t l^ iT i^ t tbit ligmJeK.sjiw it mlmd^£lt i f mually met with in pairs,
but in.iv.b^iic^syii]alK,iil)-t n i d ,iwu i iting\n mil ill ipiuutuiTgj'M
I found many of its eggs among
jfrjPSfe.' jm-Kpep0 11ieh-wa terin |rk;"the yp^Vc^d uiK ult i >\lttuit in l msiquenieot their lolounng
very.closely as|^3atiDg^to that material apiong which they wereplaeed ;/tho^e procured by Mr.
Gilbert in Wesferp Australia were deposited on a small mound of sand and sea-weed on the sandy beach at
a d is |ap^ d f from ten to twenty yards apr^J^jf-water m ark. The breeding-season comprises September
and |he th^C£Pr fom^fpllo^ng months.
The stomachfs very muscular, and the food' consis|S;of small mollusca of various kinds.
Like the Tringas generally, this bird resorts to every possible dei icc in < S 8 to lure an intruder from
41s:hfest: throwing itself down upori,ite;.chest and flapping its last agonies of death, it will
-socootinue u n tile ? has approached almojtknear enough to place his hand^upon it, when it moves along for
several yards, dragging one'ypfits legs behind ^ ^ p f|few e r e broken, and if still followed up attempts to fly,
and sp well imitates the motions ofabirdwounded in the wing, that the intruder is easily misled, and the
eggs rem dH '- a ^ |s h if# p ^ ^ ^
The eggs, which are an inch ctnd a quarter in length by seven-eighths of an inch in breadth, are of a pale
stone-colour, snrrn y biMll^^er with small irregular b lo tp h e s ^® ^ ^ ^ h black.
The male has the forehead crossed by a broad band o f white, which gradually diminishes to a point at
the posterior angle <^'J&>ey|<; above this is another band of black, which alsp’ diminisbes to a point at the
same place? from Me^angle of l i l i the eye is a line of black, which, is continued from the
posterior angle o f l ie sly 1 in an ihdnmnct.forin down crown of the head, nape and
back of th^ B ^ p :n c h l r u s f e y -^ ^ all the upper sm flce . andf-wjogs pale brown, ^ach feather margined
with a stilb;ligbto'tM^primaries blackish brown-? |jfg. shafts and extreme edge o f the inner webs white;
four central tcdfea|jier§idark brown, th e frem |M ® i^ jte ; all th ^ g d e r surface white; irides very dark
hrown; bill dark reddish brown | naked part-pgth.e legsJb0 e f^ ^ ^ M | ^ r £ greenish g rey; farsBlight
g r e y ; feet blackish brown.
In the female II precisely tlm^gne, but the hues are all much paler, and the
&ark$ abpujTthe face are lig h ^K r o j# ih ^ S o f '
The Plate represents the twe sexes of flfqoa|g|bl s*?6.