CEYLON RAILS, WADERS, GULLS, AND TERNS. 209 
a brown patch on each side of the breast, extending sometimes 
nearly to the middle ; lores and a stripe through the eye and 
round the nape a richer brown than on the back. Wing quills 
blackish-brown, the inner primaries with a white patch on the 
outer web, and the secondaries with white tips and borders. 
The four central tail feathers are blackish-brown, the next 
pair white on the tips and outer borders, the two outside pairs 
entirely white. 
Breeding plumage. Male: A broad black patch appears 
above the white forehead ; remainder of crown and nape 
tinged with rusty red. A band from the lores to the ear 
coverts, and the patch on each side of the breast black. 
Female : Lacks the black patches on the front of the crown, 
while the loral band and breast patches are rusty brown 
instead of black. The rufous tinge on the head is less pro- 
nounced than in the male. 
Young birds have paler edges to the feathers on the upper 
parts. 
Tropical birds are smaller than northern specimens. 
Bill black ; iris brown; legs and feet dusky gray or 
blackish. 
Length 6°5; wing 4:1; tail 1:9; tarsus 1; bill from 
gape °7. 
Distribution —Found all round the coast ; most plentiful in 
the north and about Hambantota ; some birds are resident, 
but their numbers are largely reinforced during the north- 
east monsoon by migrants. Occurs throughout the Indian 
Empire, chiefly near the sea. The species ranges through 
Europe, Africa, most of Asia, and Australia, but many of 
the birds which winter in warmer climates breed in the 
north. 
Habits —Mainly a bird of the sea coast, preferring sandy 
shores rather than mud flats. Has been found breeding in 
June and July on sandy wastes near Hambantota, but some 
birds at the breeding season retire inland to nest round 
Minneri and Kanthalai tanks. Ceylon birds appear to lay 
only two or three eggs, which are stone-coloured with rather 
scratchy black markings and a few pale gray-purple spots. 
Average measurement 1°18 by °87. 
