NUMENIUS UROPYGIALIS, Gow.

Australian Whimbrel.

Numenwus uropygialis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 175.
Man-do-weidt, Aborigines of Port Essington.

 

Tuts species is somewhat smaller than the Mumenius Pheopus of Europe, and moreover differs in having
the rump barred and mottled instead of a pure white as in that bird; in other respects they are so similar
that a description of one would apply with nearly equal accuracy to the other ; the Australian bird is how-
ever of a paler brown than its European ally.

It is distributed over the whole of Australia as well as Van Diemen’s Land, wherever localities occur
suitable to. its habits, which are so precisely similar to those of the Munenius Pheopus, that a description of
them is quite unnecessary.

It is generally met with in large flocks in swampy districts on the banks of rivers and all similar situations ;
I killed several specimens on the Hunter in New South Wales, but could never succeed in discovering its
eggs, whence I infer that for the purposes of incubation it betakes itself to the interior of the country.

The sexes are so precisely alike, that by dissection alone can we distinguish the one from the other.

Crown of the head brown, with a narrow irregular stripe of buffy white down the centre; lores and line
behind the eye brown ; line over the eye, neck and breast buffy white, with a brown line down the centre
of each feather, the brown colour predominating ; centre of the back and scapulary feathers dark olive,
spotted on their margins with light buff; wing-coverts the same, but lighter, and presenting a mottled
appearance ; primaries blackish brown with light shafts ; rump and upper tail-coverts barred with brown
and white; tail pale brown, barred with dark brown; chin, lower part of the abdomen and under tail-
coverts white; bill blackish horn-colour, fleshy at the base; feet greyish black.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.