Page:The Emu volume 18.djvu/335

 Demiegretta sacra. Reef-Heron.—Reef-Herons are found throughout the Dampier Archipelago. The dark slate-coloured form is much the commoner variety, and, though the white form was often present, it did not occur in pairs. On an islet near Barrow Island I found empty nests under slabs of sandstone thrown up by the heavy gales which sometimes occur in these latitudes. On some of the islands these slabs of rock are found in wall-like masses, and almost suggest human agency in their construction. On Eaglehawk Island I found a Reef-Heron's nest containing two fresh eggs under a huge rock, one of many thrown up by some extra violent blow. My attention was attracted to the nest by the anxiety of the parent birds, which flew from rock to rock, uttering their harsh, guttural notes. I could only reach the nest by lying down full length and half creeping into the cavity. The nest was a small affair, chiefly constructed of seaweed. Date, 31st August.

Butorides stagnatilis. Little Mangrove-Bittern.—I never saw this species far from the mangroves. It appears to be a shy, unobtrusive bird, not much in evidence during daylight. There were old or empty nests in the mangroves near our anchorage at Barrow Island, and I took one fresh egg from a nest in another mangrove thicket at the north end of the island. Date, 13th August.

Hæmatopus (niger) fuliginosus. Black Oyster-catcher.—Found on all the islands, but less frequent than the Pied variety (H. longirostris). I obtained several nests containing eggs. The nests were mere hollows in the sand, and, as a rule, were excavated a little above high water mark. The eggs were invariably two in number, and seemed, on the average, to be larger than those of the Pied species. I often had a difficulty to make the two species of Oyster-catchers come up to a nest and own their eggs. Usually both species were in sight. In one instance three Oyster-catchers nests were close together. As well as these species, a pair of Long-billed Stone-Curlews was present. One pair of eggs presented a very unusual variety, being not unlike those of the Stone-Curlew (Burhinus grallarius), and I at first hoped they might belong to the larger species, but they were eventually owned by a Pied Oyster-catcher.

Hæmatopus longirostris. Pied Oyster-catcher.—Fairly common throughout the Archipelago. Pairs were nesting on most of the islands. I found nests both on the smooth, sandy shores and on small patches of sand in rocky hollows. The earliest clutch I obtained was one of three eggs on 10th July. These were slightly incubated, and exhibited the streaky varietv of eggs of this species.

Esacus (Orthorhamphus) magnirostris. Long-billed Stone-Curlew. — Pairs of this fine species were found on several of the islands visited, but it was not common. Usually the parents were accompanied by a well-grown young bird, and in one case by a pair. Copious rains had fallen during the preceding March. This species had evidently bred soon afterwards. However, on revisiting the beach where I had found the colony of Caspian Terns breeding on 5th July, I observed a female bird of the present species quietly slipping down to the tide-line. I easily tracked her footprints back to a nest—a mere hollow in the sand, containing a single egg.

Ægialitis ruficapilla. Red-capped Dottrel.—A few pairs of this species frequented the beach near my camp on Barrow Island. I think they attempted to breed, as I found traces of nests and observed