CLAD O RH YBFÜHÜ 8 PECTORALIS, g . r . G r a y .
B a n d e d S t i l t .
Leptorhynchus pectoralis, Dubus, in Mem. Roy. Acad. Bruss. Aug. 1835.—Gu6rin,Mag. ZooL 1836, PL XLV.
Himantopus palmatus, Gould, Syn. Birds of Australia, Part II.
Gladorhynchus pectoralis, G. R. Gray, List of" Gen. of Birds, p. 69.
Since the publication of" the Second Part of my “ Synopsis of the Birds of Australia,” in. which I gave a
description and part figure o f this species under the name of Himantopus palmatus, I have discovered that
the bird had been previously characterized as Leptorhynchus pectoralis by the Chevalier B. Dubus, in a
memoir presented toS®> Royal Academy of Brussels on the 17th ofjanuary, 1835. But the generic term
Leptorhynchus having been already employed in Ornithology, both his name and my own must give place to
that of Cladorhynchus, proposed in itsstead by Mr. G. R . Gray in his recently published “ Genera o f Birds.”
p ip in g 'th e time that has elapsed since the appearance o f my description o f this bird, Ih a v e had an
opportunity, through the kindpe§§ o f Mp. Leadbeater, of examining two other examples, one of which was
destitute o f th e pectoral band that forms soconspicjipus a mark on the breast ;of the one figured in the
accompanying P la te ; whether, assumed during summer, or is distinctive of the sexes, I
regret to say, that not even my v isittq Australin has enabled me satisfactorily to determine, never having
had the gogd ^ g^ p e to meet in a state of nature. Thé Banded Stilt is an inhabitant of the
southern and western coast of Australia, where it liyesmuch after the manner of, and frequently associates
with, the Australian Avocet (Recurmrostra rubricollis). While at Adelaide I saw a specimen that had been
shotin that neighbourhood; and hfr^Jphn Gilbert, in his Notes from Western Australia, states that it is
confined to Rottnest Island, tbat ?sM,|§ajt he s aw ^ O n o other part of the colony.
Body white; breast crossed by a broad band o f chestnut, bordered anteriorly with black ; wings and
centre of dhe abdomen black ;v bpj^ bla ck; legs reddish yellow. In a specimen, which I presume may be a
female, the hand on the chest was greyish brown instead o f chestnut, and there was no appearance of the
black mark on the centre o f the abdomen; and in another the peetoralband was apparently disappearing,
from which I infer that this mark only exists during the breeding-season.
The Plate represents the bird of the natural, size.