Our inland Stone-Curlew has a call very similar to that of the sea (true) Curlew, but it has a short, straight bill, instead of a long, arched bill. The proper name of the land Curlew is the Southern Stone-Curlew or Stone-Plover. It is the only Australian bird that seems to have the power of varying the color of its eggs. If the eggs are laid in grass, they are greenish; if amongst ironstone, the eggs are reddish-brown; if on sand, the eggs are tawny; and so on. Other ground-laying birds seem to pick out the soil that matches the color of their eggs, and lay there only. Possibly local races of the Southern Stone-Curlew keep to the one class of country. However, the eggs do match the surroundings, and the birds nest on different kinds of soil and rock. In Family 42, the only Australian bird is the Australian Bustard, our representative of a widely-spread family, a member of which formerly bred in Great Britain. It is the well-known "Wild Turkey." As it is a good table bird, it is generally shot on sight. This is a mistake, as it is (as Mr. C. French, Government Entomologist, has pointed out) worth many times its table value as an insect destroyer. None of the family has spread to America. As no Bustard occurs in the regions between Australia and India, this bird supplies a good example of what is known to zoo-geographers as "discontinuous distribution." "Discontinuous distribution," as applied to land animals, _e.g._, marsupials found in America and Australia, ratite birds in South America, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, or the tapir, found in Central America and Malaysia, implies a land connexion (not necessarily complete at any one period) to allow of the gradual spread of the animals. Of course, as flying birds can pass easily from one region to another, "discontinuous distribution," as applied to them, cannot have so much importance attached to it as indicating previous land connexions. ==== [Page 42] [Illustration: [76] [77] [78] [79] [80] [81] [82]] ORDER X.--CHARADRIIFORMES. F. 34. _Chionididae_, Sheathbills, Kelp-Pigeons, 3 sp.--2(2)E. 1(1)Nl. F. 35. _Thinocorythidae_, Seed-Snipe, Seed-Plover, 5 sp. Nl. F. 36. CHARADRIIDAE (44), Waders, Plover-like Birds, 202 sp.--68(29)A., 75(5)O., 84(2)P., 70(24)E., 65(3)Nc., 74(28)Nl. 1 2 =76 Turnstone=, Sea-Dottrel, Calico (beach) Bird, _Arenaria interpres_, cos. [~76 _Morinella interpres._] Mig. c. _shore_ 8 Winter plumage, mottled brown, black; summer plumage in far north; black and white conspicuous; short bill black; legs, feet, orange; f., duller. Sand-hoppers, shellfish. [Page 43] 2 13 =77 Pied Oyster-catcher= (White-breasted, Black and white), Seapie, Olive, Redbill, Torea, _Haematopus longirostris_, Mol., N.G., A., T., N.Z., Chatham Is. =vt. Eur. Oyster-catcher. Stat. c. _shores_ 19.5