112 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ORNITHOLOGY OF INDIA. 



to say that the species were very numerous, but individual birds 

 were more plentiful than we elsewhere met with them. 

 On many islands the difficulty was to meet anything- to shoot ; 

 here we might have shot any number of birds we chose. 



A fine pair of the Andaman Hawk-eagle, (Sp. andaman- 

 ensis) kept circling' and wheeling over head (never approaching" 

 within shot) throughout the day, now and again perching for a 

 time on some dead tree that crowned one of the higher ridges. 

 The Pale-billed Swallow-shrike {A. leuGorhynclios) , together 

 with the Blue-tailed Bee-eater, sailed about in large parties 

 hawking insects. In amongst the trees the larg-e black King- 

 crow (Dissemuroides dicrurlformis) was perhaps the most noti- 

 ceable bird, conspicuous by its large size and harsh voice. 

 The Andaman Crow-pheasant or Coucal (G. andamatiensis), the 

 Bow-billed Corby (C. Levaillantii) , the Indian Chesnut-headed 

 Bee-eater (M. Swinhoei), the Andaman Sun-bird, the White- 

 collared Kingfisher (H. c/iloris), the Green Imperial Pigeon 

 (C. sylvatica), the Bronze-winged Dove (G. i?idica), the 

 Andaman Paroquet, seemed all common. On the shore 

 Blue Reef-herons, Pallas'* Sand-plover {M. motigolicus), 

 the Grey-curlew, the Turnstone, the Common Sandpiper, were 

 shot and a few other birds observed. In one patch of long 

 grass I turned out a White-breasted Water-hen, and one of 

 the party shot a common Pond-heron. 



A huge lizard (Hydrosaurus salvator) was not uncommon. 

 An enormous specimen was brought in by one of the officers 

 who seemed to think he had secured a rather dangerous animal, 

 for he insisted that it stood and looked at him in such way 

 that he did not know what it was o-oiuo- to do next. 



Just off the northern end of the island lies a small separate 

 islet known as Table Islaud, on which the light-house of that 

 name is situated. As we walked up the shore towards Table 

 Island, we noticed on and about the recks which fringed the 

 latter several pairs of a large plover, similar to what we 

 had seen in Macpherson's Straits, and which although surprised 

 at finding it on the sea-coast, it being essentially a river-bank 

 bird, I had taken for E. reciirvirostris. 



After an immense deal of trouble, for the birds were very 

 wary, I succeeded in shooting a specimen, and found it to be a 

 true Esacus no doubt, but a much larger and darker bird than 

 our Indian one, in fact no other than the Australian species 

 magnirostris. We never met with this bird anywhere in the 

 Nicobars, nor has it been, so far as I know, observed in Sumatra, 

 Java or Borneo; its habitat being the northern and north- 



