H/EMATOPODIN^E. 339 



pointed ; _ lower mandible strongly angulated ; gonys long, 

 commencing near the chin ; bill slightly descending at first from 

 the chin ; nostrils oval, lateral, near the base, pervious ; wings 

 long, equal to the tail, first primary longest ; tail even or barely 

 rounded ; tarsus very long, as also the bare portion of the tibia ; 

 feet much webbed, especially the outer and middle toes. 



GENUS, Dromas, PayL 



The characters are the same as those of the sub-family. 



Dromas ardeola, PayL 



861. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 658 ; Murray's Verte- 

 brate Zoology of Sind, p. 234. 



THE CRAB PLOVER. 



Length, 15 ; wing, 875 ; tail, 2'95 ; tarsus, 3'6 ; bill, 2'5. 



Bill black ; irides brown ; legs plumbeous. 



Whole head, neck, wing-coverts, lengthened tertiaries, scapulars 

 and lower parts, white ; mantle, interscapular region, greater 

 wing-coverts and primaries, black ; some of the tertiaries and 

 the tail reddish-ashy, paling on the inner webs. 



The Crab Plover is not uncommon on the sea-coast near 

 Kurrachee and at Mandavee. 



It is only of late years that any authentic information in 

 regard to its nidification has been obtained. It has now been 

 ascertained beyond any possibility of doubt, incredible as it may 

 appear, that they burrow in sandhills (on small islands in the 

 Persian Gulf), to the depth of about four feet or so, and lay a 

 single white egg, similar to a duck egg, measuring 2*54 inches in 

 length and 177 in breadth. 



SUB-FAMILY, Haematopodinae. 



Bill lengthened, strong, and truncated ; tarsus short ; plumage 

 black or pied. 



GENUS, Haematopus, Lin. 



Bill straight or slightly bent upwards, very long, robust, 

 compressed, ending in a truncated point ; nostrils in the 

 middle of a long and deep oblique cleft ; wings moderate 

 or long, nearly reaching the end of the tail, pointed; first 

 quill longest ; tail moderate, nearly even, of twelve feathers ; 

 tarsi short, strong, reticulated ; hind-toe wanting ; anterior toes 

 short, thick, edged with callosities ; the outer-toe joined at the 

 base to the middle one by a web. 



Haematopus ostralegus, Lin. 



862. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 659 ; Butler, Guzerat ; 

 Stray Feathers, Vol. V, p. 212; Deccan, Stray Feathers, Vol. 

 IX, p. 427; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 234. 



