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]
[Illustration: [81] [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]
[Illustration: [70] [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.