AUSTRALIAN LlMICOLiE. 971 



iion-breeding i»lumage of the adult, but at Shanghai it has 

 been obtained in nuptial dress. In Australia Dr. Ramsay- 

 records it from the Wide Bay District, and notes it doubtfully 

 from Rockingham Bay. Gould obtained it near Sydney, 

 and it may possibly be found in the Riverina District if it 

 strays so far inland as that province. 



28. yEoiALlTIS GEOFFROYI. 



(Large Sandplover) . 



Charadrius geoJfroTji., Wagler, Syst. An., fol. 4, p. 13, (1827). 

 JEqiaUtis geoffroyi^ Harting, Ibis, p. 378, pi. ii, (1870) ; Legge, 



B. of Ceylon, p. 939, (1880) ; Ramsay, List Aiistr. B., p. 19, 



(1888). 



The range of this species extends from the north coast of 

 China and Japan, through the Malay Archipelago to the 

 north-east coast of Queensland, in which province Rockingham 

 Bay is up to the present time its southernmost limit. Further 

 west in Asia it is found in the summer in Turkestan and 

 probably in the contiguous highland territory of Central Asia, 

 and extends thence during migration in the cool season to 

 India and Ceylon, where it is a tolerably common bird from 

 October until the following April. It is chiefly a littoral 

 species, never being found at any great distance from the sea, 

 and often consorts with the Sandplover next to be noticed. 

 In Ceylon immature birds are occasionally to be seen during 

 the breeding season, but there is no evidence of this plover 

 having bred either in India or Ceylon. On the coasts of 

 China it may be met with both in winter and summer, and it 

 has been known to breed in the island of Formosa. It occurs 

 on migration in the Pelew Islands and in the Philippine Group, 

 but in Celebes it has been obtained in the breeding season. 

 It is recorded from the south coast of New Guinea, and 

 probably frequents other islands of the Archipelago, but 

 owing to its habit of not associating in large flocks it may 

 have been overlooked. It has been obtained on the north 

 coast of AustraKa and on the north-west side of the continent 

 as far south as Derby. 



Returning to its distribution in Asia, it'is found in Palestine 

 and parts of Asia Minor, from which latter country 1 have 

 seen specimens in breeding plumage. From this region it 

 extends through Egypt to the Gulf of Aden, where Von 

 Heughlin considers that it is a resident. To the south of 

 this it is found along the east coast to Cape Colony and 

 diverges eastward to the Seychelles, Mauritius,and Madagascar. 



