Contributmis to the OrnWiology of India, 8fc. 239 



Another point that strikes me in the Indian hirds^ and it is 

 impossible to lay half a dozen of each kind tog-ether without at 

 once noticing- it, is that the bills of our birds are much more 

 markedly curved than those of the European ones. As for the 

 dimensions assigned by Schlegel for the European bird, he must 

 have measured mounted individuals, in which the feet being- set 

 at right angles to the tarsus, the full length of the latter cannot 

 be measured. A very small English male, with the bill only 

 4'85, has the tarsus fully 3 "2, a correspondingly small Indian 

 male, with the bill 5 "25, has the tarsus precisely the same length 

 as the English one, while the tarsus of the largest Indian male 

 I have, is only 3-3. The longest tarsus of any Indian female is 

 only 3"5, and that of a fine female, with a bill 7, is only 3*3. 

 This same bird has the wing only 11*6, and the largest bird has 

 a wing of only 13"6. 



As far as I can judge, therefore, the only real distinction that 

 exists between the Indian and English birds is that the former 

 have longer bills which are conspicuously more curved towards 

 the tips ; whether this is sufficient to constitute a distinct species, 

 is merely a matter of opinion. 



The grey curlew is very abundant throughout the cold wea- 

 ther along the banks of all the greater rivers of the Punjab and 

 of the Indus in Siudh, and is nearly equally common in the 

 neighbourhood of all the larger inland pieces of water as well as 

 in. all the harbours and back-waters of its coast and of the 

 Mekran Coast. I measured one day three fine females in the 

 flesh, and the following were the results : 



Length, 35 to 26'5 ; expanse, 40*5 to 43 ; tail from vent, 

 4'8 to 5-4; wings, 11-6 to 13; bill at front, along the curve 

 from forehead to tip, 6*8 to 7 '35 ; tarsus, 3*35 to 3*5 ; weight, 

 1 lb. 11 ozs., to 1 lbs. 14 ozs. I have some longer billed birds, 

 and some with longer wings, none with a longer tarsus than 

 one of these : they are certainly three fine females ; and I wish 

 some one at home would measure half a dozen fine females, and 

 see what amount of difference really exists between the two 

 races. I have many smaller females than these, and the males of 

 course, as may be judged by the dimensions I gave of their bills, 

 are altogether smaller. 



880.— Philomachus pugnax, L. 



Ruffs and Reeves, so common during the autumn and winter 

 in Upper India generally, were apparently scarce in Sindh. I 

 think I shot three altogether, and may have seen a score from 

 first to last. I undex'stand however, that just towards the close 

 of the inundation, they sometimes appear in very large flocks, 

 disappearing again in about a month. 



