s impossible to keep it, we let it go. This
bird very much resembles the stone Plover of England, but there are some
slight differences of plumage.

112. SARCIOPHORUS PECTORALIS.--Black-breasted Dottrel.

This bird is remarkable for a small red wattle protruding from the bill,
with a grey back and wings. It takes its name from its black breast.

113. EUDROMIAS AUSTRALIS, GOULD.--Aust. Dottrel.

This singular bird like several others of different genera, made its
appearance in 1841 suddenly on the plains of Adelaide, seeming to have
come from the north. It occupied the sand hills at the edge of the
Mangrove swamps and fed round the puddles of water on the plains. This
bird afforded my friend Mr. Torrens, an abundant harvest, as they were
numerous round his house, but although some few have visited South
Australia every year, they have never appeared in such numbers as on the
first occasion. The plumage is a reddish brown, with a dark horseshoe on
the breast. It has a full eye, and runs very fast along the ground, Mr.
Browne and I met or rather crossed several flights of these birds in
August of 1845, going south. They were in very large open plains and were
very wild.

114. HIATICULA NIGRIFRONS.--Black-fronted Dotrell.

Much smaller than the preceding. A pretty little bird with a plaintive
note, generally seen in pairs on the edge of muddy lagoons. Its plumage
is a mixture of black, white, and brown, the first colour predominating
on the head and breast. It runs with great swiftness, but delights more
in flying from one side of a pond to the other.

115. CHLADORHYNCHUS PECTORALIS.--The Banded Stilt.

This singular bird, with legs so admirably adapted by their length for
wading into the shallow lakes and sheets of water, near which it is
found, is in large flocks in the interior. It was in great numbers on
Lepson's Lake to the northward of Cooper's Creek, and on Strzelecki's
Creek was sitting on the water with other wild fowl making a singular
plaintive whistle. It is semipalmated, has black wings, and a band of
brown on the breast, but it is otherwise white. Its bill is long,
straight and slender, and its legs are naked for more than an inch and
half above the knee.

116. HIMANTOPUS LEUCOCEPHALUS, GOULD.--The white-headed Stilt.

The present bird is about the size of Chladorhynchus pectoralis, and in
plumage is nearly the same. This bird was not found in the distant
interior but in the shallow basin and round