490 MdUmts lo il'e Avifauna <yf Cei/ton. 



comalie, I saw several of these birds^ pvocnriug one, a female^, on 

 the 4th of January last, 



Lenj^th, 9 inches ; wing;, 5*7 ; tail, S-2 ; bill, at front, 1*1 -, 

 iris, brown ; bill, black, yellowish at the base of under mandi- 

 ble ; leg's, fleshy reddish grey, the joints bluish, and the feet dark- 

 ening into plumbeous. 



These birds I observed, kept in pairs, or were solitary, while 

 the lesser species, y?^. m,09?,ff olicus, cowsorts together in flocks. This 

 latter species is numerous in this country, on the S. E. Coast, in 

 the S. W. monsoon, during the montlis of July and Angust. 

 JR(/iaUtis mongolicus, as well as the subject of the present note 

 and many other waders, I have discovered within the past six 

 months, remain behind in large flocks throughout the year,"^ 

 after the usual migration of the tribe to Northern latitudes 

 takes place ; whether theyt do so as immature and non-breeding 

 birds, or whether the}'' actually breed on the South-East Coast of 

 Ceylon, I know not, as I did not succeed in finding any eggs. 

 Certain it is, that they are numerous in the Hawbautota district 

 in the breeding season, and thoug-h the greater j^art were in im- 

 mature dress, many were in nuptial plumage as well. 



On the 14th July, I came on a good number of JI<]g'uditls Geof- 

 Toyi, which, contrary to what I observed on the North Coast, 

 were all in a flock, in company with another new bird to Ceylon 

 (Glarcola lactea) afiecting the hollows of the celebrated sand-hills 

 of Hawbautota, which stretch along the beach for three or four 

 miles west of that place, and which after having already, once 

 upon a time, swallowed up the town, are still slowly moving on 

 before the S. W. wind and encroachino- to an alarmins: extent on 

 the present site. A specimen which fell to my gun proved a fe- 

 mrde, and was smaller than the North country example, having 

 a total length of 8| inches, and a wing of 5'2, with a bill of 0*97 

 at front. It was evidentlj^ a young bird, still in winter dress, as 

 the ova were but little developed ; the coloring of the front of the 

 tarsi differed from that of the Triucomalie bird, being pale, sickly 

 yellowish ; the tibia, pale slate bluish, mingled witli yellowish, 

 and the feet bluish leaden. The day on which I obtained this in- 

 teresting specimen was the last I spent in the district, and it 

 was shot while actually leaving the neighbourhood, I having pulled 

 up mj^ bullock-cart to procure some terns which were skimming 

 over a small tank beneath the sand-hills, and I therefore had no 



* M. Qeoffroyi aud ^. mongolicus. 



f I have reeeiitly ascertained this to be tlie case at the Andamans also, and Lave 

 prominently noticed the fact in my forthcoming paper on the Avifauna of the is- 

 lands of the Bay of Bengal. 



