RECURVIROSTRA. 631 



waters in great numbers during winter; also along the banks of the Indus and 

 Punjab rivers, and on all large inland sheets of water. 



Gen. Ibidorhynchus, Vigors. 



Bill long, slender, well curved, scarcely dilated at tip, upper mandible 

 grooved, tomioe inflexed and denticulated ; nostrils wide, linear, basal ; wings 

 long, ist quill longest; tail short, of 12 feathers; tarsi short, bare ; hind toe 

 wanting. 



1315. Ibidorhynchus Struthersii (Vigors), Gould, Cent. 



Him. B. pi. 19. ; Hodgs., J. A, S. B. iv. p. 459 ; Jerd. % B. Ind. iii. p. 685, 

 No. 879; Hume, Str. F. iii. p. 257. Clorhynchus strophiatus, Hodgs. 

 J. A. S. B. iv. p. 761. The RED-BILLED CURLEW. 



Whole head as far as the eyes black, the feathers of the forehead edged 

 with greyish white ; rest of the upper plumage, including the nape, wings 

 and tail bluish ashy ; winglet and primaries slaty blue ; a bar of white across 

 the wings ; upper tail coverts nearly ashy brown ; tail with the feathers barred 

 with dusky black, all except the two central feathers largely tipped with 

 black ; outer web of outermost feather white ; chin and throat black ; neck 

 ashy ; a gorget of black on the breast ; under surface of body, under wing 

 and tail coverts white. 



Bill deep crimson ; irides red ; legs blood red. (Jerd?) 

 Length. 16-5 inches ; wing 9-25 ; tail 4-5 ; tarsus 2-2 ; bill 375. 



Hab. The Himalayas, on the banks of sandy streams in Nepaul and in 

 Sikkim on the Great Runjeet ; also in Ladak. 



Sub-Family RECURVIROSTRIN^E. Bp. 



Nostrils narrow, membranous ; tail short and rounded ; tarsi long, covered 

 with reticulated scales ; bill long and slender, recurved in one genus. 



Gen RecurvirOStra. Linn. 



Bill long, thin, the keel flattened, the tips turned upwards ; toes united by 

 webs ; hind toe short. 



1316. Recurvirostra avocetta (Linn.}, Bodd., P. E. 353 ; Gould, 



B. Eur. pi. 289; Jerd., B. Ind. iii. p. 248 ; Murray, Hdbk., Zool.,fyc., Sind, 

 p. 222 ; id., Vert. Zool. Sind, p. 258. The AVOCET, SCOOPER or CROOKED-BILL. 



Forehead in some specimens faintly white, otherwise black ; crown, lores, 

 nape and back of the neck black ; scapulars, lesser wing coverts and upper 

 tertials black ; primaries black, some of the inner ones with their inner webs 

 white ; secondaries and some of the tertials white ; chin, throat, neck in front, 

 lower neck behind, lower back, rump, upper tail coverts and entire under 

 surface white. 



