1870.] MR. Rh. SWINHOE ON CHINESE PLOVERS. 137 
over the ear-coverts, brown more or less mixed with black. A pure 
white half-eyebrow above the ear-coverts. On hind neck, below the 
white ring, a broad black ring extending across the breast ; below 
this a narrow white pectoral bar, succeeded by a broad one of brown 
more or less mixed with black. Lower edge of wing white; greater 
wing-coverts broadly margined at their tips with the same. Winglet 
deep hair-brown. Quills lighter hair-brown, edged and tipped 
paler; inner secondaries broadly edged with white. Tail light 
brown; the two central feathers entirely so, but of a much darker 
hue near their tips; the rest with a broad white tip, succeeded by a 
blackish-brown broad bar, the black mounting higher on the outer 
side of the shaft, and the white increasing towards the outermost 
feather, of which the edge of the outer web, its entire basal portion, 
and its shaft are white. 
Bill blackish brown, the basal third of its lower mandible orange- 
yellow. Eyelid orange-yellow; eye full and dark. Legs pale 
ochreous, deeper on toes, with black claws. 
Length about 8 inches; wing 5°75; tail 3°2; bill in front *8; naked 
tibia °65 ; tarse 1°2; middle toe (claw ‘17) 12, outer toe (claw *15) 
*88, inner toe (claw ‘14)°7. A slight web occurs between the outer 
and middle toes, running in a deep curve from the first joint of the one 
to that of the other. The feet extend when stretched backwards to a 
little beyond the tail ; the wings fall a quarter of an inch short of it. 
This species is much smaller than Agialites vociferus, and about 
a third bigger than Ay. tricollaris, but has a longer bill than either. 
In the black and white markings of the head and neck and tail, and 
in the shape of the last, these three species have much in common, 
but they differ so much in other respects that there is no chance of 
confounding them one with another. 
Mr. Harting drew my attention to a species of Plover from India 
with the double pectoral band, which he thought at first might be 
the same as my Chinese species. He took the pains to search up 
all the references alluding to it, and has kindly permitted me to 
peruse them. The species is described by Latham (Ind. Ornith. ii. 
p- 750) as Charadrius indicus ; and there is a specimen of it in the 
Leyden Museum from Nepaul. It turns out to be smailer and quite 
distinct from ours. A description of the Nepaulese specimen is 
given in the ‘ Mus. des Pays-Bas,’ Cursores, p. 25. 
2, AXGIALITES HIATICULA (Linn.). 
Pére David had a specimen of the European Ringed Plover in full 
summer plumage in his museum at Peking. It had been procured 
in the neighbourhood of the Chinese capital. I have never met with 
it on the South-China coast. 
3. AKGIALITES CURONICUS (Gm.)*. 
Aigialites minor (Meyer). 
* This would appear to be the larger form of Little Sand-plover, or Ayialites 
intermedius (Ménétriés) = Charadrius hiaticula of Pallas. The smaller form, 
Aig. minor (Meyer)= Ch. curonicus, Beseke= Ch. minutus, Pallas, has not yet 
occurred in China, but is known from India, and has been met with in England. 
