iESACus. 231 



HoplopterUS Ventralis, Guv.; Gray, III. Ind. Zool. pL63; J),rd. 

 B. Ind. iii. p. 650, No. 857; Str. F. vol. iii. 181 ; vi. 457; Miirrai/, 

 Hdbk., Zool., S)'c., Shid, p. 211. — The Spur-winged Lapwing. 



Head^ crest, lores, sides of the face, as far as the middle of the eye, 

 chin, throat, and foreneck black ; a white streak from behind the eye on 

 each side meeting on the nape, bordering- the black feathers of the 

 hind crown and nape; cheeks' white, the white extending on to the 

 npper breast all round, enclosing the black of the foreneck and form- 

 ing a pectoral patch ; breast below, back, scapulars and tertials pale 

 brown; shoulder of the wing black; priman'es black ; secondaries 

 basally white, tipped and edged with black, the black decreasiug in 

 extent on the hinder feathers ; greater wing-coverts white, forujinp- 

 a conspicuous wing band ; npper and under tail-coverts and entire 

 under surfoce white, except a patch on the middle of the abdomen ; tail 

 white, broadly terminated with black. 



Lengtli.~l2 inches, wing 7-75 to 8, tail 4 to 4-2, bill at front Ml ; 

 bill black, irides deep brown, legs blackish, tinged with reddish. 



Hah. — Northern India generally, Punjab, N. W. Provinces, Oudh, 

 Bengal, and Central India, along the sandy banks of rivers; also in Pegu 

 and Nepaul. It is rare in Sind. A single specimen was got by Mr. W. 

 WalHnger on the banks of the Indus near Baggatora, who also mentions 

 having seen it on the Aral near Seliwan. 



Sub-Family, ESACIN^,— Stone Plovers. 



Bill strong and thick; no hind toe; nostrils linear, in a groove near 

 the base of the bill ; gonys strongly angulated. 



Gen. iEsacus. 



Bill long, sub-curved, the lower edge of the under mandible wide 

 in the middle, then curving to a point. 



^sacus recurvirostris, Guv.; G. B. Gray, ill. G. B. pi. 142; 



Jerd. B. Ind. iii. p. G52, No. 858; Str. F. vol. v. p. 121; Murray, 

 Hdbk., Zool., S,'c., Sind, p. 211. {KarwanaJc, Chota Taloor, Sind).-1- 

 The Large Stone Plover. 



Forehead and a broad line down the sides of the face white ; a 

 broad dark streak on each side from the base of the lower mandible ; 

 feathers round and behind the eye white, broadly bordered with dark 

 brown; chin, thi^oat, abdomen, and under tail-coverts white; top of 

 head, neck behind, back, scapulars and tertials pale brown, the feathers 

 distinctly dark-shafted ; neck in front white, in some specimens 

 obtained in April greyish brown; the breast ashy, contrasting with the 

 pure white of the rest of the under surface ; primaries black, the first 

 three quills with a patch of white on their terminal third, and the last 

 three basally and at tip white, with a subterminal black band ; lesser 

 wing-coverts dark brown ; median and greater coverts pale greyish 

 brown, the latter white tipped; secondaries dark brown, their inner webs 

 white; tail pale brown at base/ with a subterminal white band and a 



