CHARADBIID^. 221 



Length of male in winter plumage 12 ; tail 3'75 ; wing, in- 

 cluding appendage to the 1st primary, 7*8 ; tarsus 2 ; bill from 

 gape 1*3: in summer, length 18, tail 10. Females are larger: 

 length in breeding-plumage 21 ; tail 12 ; wing 9. 



Distribution. Resident throughout India, Ceylon, and Burma, 

 wherever suitable pieces of water with floating plants occur ; 

 common on the lakes in Kashmir, and straggling individuals have 

 been recorded from Gilgit and Pangi in the interior of the Hima- 

 layas. This bird is not found west of India, but ranges to the 

 eastward as far as South China, the Philippines, and Java. 



Habits, &fc. Very similar 1 o those of the last species, but this Jagana 

 keeps much to larger and more open pieces of water, and hides 

 less. Its cry resembles the mewing of a cat or kitten. It lays 

 four eggs in a nest precisely similar to that of Metopidius, but the 

 eggs are very different in shape and colour, being pegtop-like, 

 short and broad, hemispherical at one end, conical at the other, 

 exceedingly glossy, and deep rufous brown to greenish bronze in 

 colour, without spots. They measure about 1*46 by 1*12. 



Family CHARADHIID^E. 



Schizorhinal ; nostrils pervious ; basipterygoid processes present. 

 Cervical vertebra 15. Hind toe short or wanting. Eggs large for 

 the size of the bird, always four in number and pegtop-shaped, 

 with one end rounded, the other conical ; this enables the four eggs 

 to lie with the pointed ends together in comparatively small space. 

 The eggs are laid in a small hollow in the ground, sometimes 

 slightly lined with grass, more often not. 



The Plovers, Sandpipers, and Snipes are so nearly allied that 

 they must all be united into one family. There are clearly several 

 subfamilies, and the arrangement here proposed adds to the number 

 of attempts that have been made to arrange the group. 



a. Bill moderate, not longer than head ; 

 nasal groove not extending more 

 than half the length of the upper 

 mandible ; tarsus reticulated behind 



and frequently in front also Charadriince, p. 222. 



&. Bill very long ; tarsus reticulated 



throughout Hcematopodince, p. 245. 



c. Bill variable ; nasal groove extending 

 along greater part of upper man- 

 dible ; tarsus shielded in front. 

 a'. Eyes not placed far back ; a dis- 

 tinct summer and winter plumage Totaninw, p. 250.' 

 &'. Eyes placed far back ; no distinct 



summer and winter plumage . . Scolopacince, p. 283. 



