Capt. W. W. Cordeaux on Ibidorhyiiclius struthersii. 563 



XLI. — Notes 0)1 Ibidoi'lijuchus struthersii. 

 By Captain W. Wilfrid Cordeaux. 



This bird is very local in its distribution. Personally I have 

 observed it only in the neighbourhood of the Lanwi La, on 

 the Kashmir side of the pass, for a distance of twenty miles 

 down the Wurdwan River^ which rises from the foot of the 

 great Bhutkol glacier, along the surface of which is the 

 trackway over the Lauwi La. Across the pass I have seen 

 the bird at Dunore, the first camping-ground on the Ladakh 

 side : from thence to Suru village and fort, along the valley 

 of the Chiloong River to its junction with the Suru River, 

 and below this for about seven miles down the Sum towards 

 Sanko. 



The Lanwi La or Bhutkol Pass, elevation 14,350 feet, is 

 the chief route between the Wurdwan country and Ladakh. 

 Lanwi La is the Bhotia name for the pass, tlie word La 

 meaning a pass ; the Kashraii'is call it the Bhutkol. Both 

 the Wurdwan and Chiloong Rivers are, like all streams rising 

 from glaciers, broken up by numerous sandbanks, which 

 divide them into a network of shallow streams. It is here 

 that Ibidorhynchus is met with, searching with great activity 

 for small Crustacea along the edge of the water, and moving 

 with a quick run, very like a Redshank ; sometimes they will 

 swim across a pool of water or narrow stream. 



The birds are invariably met with in pairs both in and 

 out of the breeding-season, which commences during the 

 second week in May, as I had the nestlings brought me 

 on the 30tli June, 1896, evidently about twelve days old. 

 These closely follow the colouring of the old birds — a dark 

 grey-blue above, lighter on the lower parts. Li places the 

 down is faintly marked with brown. The legs are a greenish 

 grey. The bill, unlike the crimson-red of the mature bird, is 

 sepia-black; iris brown. The grey-blue colour of the young 

 assists it very materially to conceal itself in the shingle, 

 which is of the same tint. The old birds are very difficult 

 to sec at a distance of 30 or 40 yards in the glare of a 

 Ladakh sun, as they assimilate so nearly to the background 



