734 Birds of Celebes: Charadriidae. 



Sexes. "The sexes bear a general resemblance to each other, and the young of the first 

 autumn is only distinguished by the feathers being margined with grey" (Gould 4). 



Egg. AjDparently only one to a sitting. Oval, fairly smooth-shelled; creamy stone-colour, 

 boldly blotched, streaked and spotted wath blackish brown, chiefly at the large end, 

 paling in some places to yellowish or raw Sienna-brown; a few small pale inky-purple 

 subsurface-looking spots and clouds; size 66 X 44.5 mm (from Hume 17). 



Nest. None. Mr. Hume's egg from Little Cocos was found in the coral-sand a Httle above 

 high-water mark, in a small depression. 



Distribution. Cocos and Andaman Is. (Hume 7, S); ?Mergui Is. (Davison 10); Sumati'a, 

 Banka, Java (fide Salvadori d 2); Cape Simpang mengaio, Borneo (Everett d 4); 

 Philippines — Luzon (Whitehead 21], Palawan (Whitehead 15), ? "Philippines 

 and Sooloo" (Peale d 2r, Celebes — (Reinwardt a 3), Gorontalo Distr. (Riedel in 

 Dresd. Mus.); Kalao (Everett 22); Sula (Allen 3); Halmahera, Ternate, Raou, 

 Moor, Ceram, Ai'u, Kei, Waigiou, Salawatti, Batanta, Mysol, Jobi, New Guinea, 

 Admiralty Is., Duke of York, New Britain, Loui.siades, Solomon Is., New Caledonia, 

 Yule Id., Ferguson Id. (fide Salvadori d 2, d 7); N. Australia and N. Queensland 

 (Ramsay 16). 



This giant Plover is a frequenter of the sea-shore, where, as Gould and 

 others observed, it preys upon crabs — for cracking which its bill appears ad- 

 mirably adapted, — "marine insects, worms and various kinds of moUusks". It 

 has rarely been killed in Celebes. Rosenberg, who seems to have been well 

 acquainted with it, probably in Gorontalo, speaks of it as shy, occurring singly 

 on the strand , flying noisily but lightly , and , when put up , uttering a sharp 

 call sounding like "Wili", whence its name. The natives of N. Australia know 

 it as "Weelo" (4). 



Its nearest affinities are with E. recurvirostris (Cuv.) of India, the Burmese 

 countries and Ceylon, a smaller, weaker bird with the bill upcurved, confining 

 itself, according to Hume, strictly to sheltered banks of rivers where it feeds 

 on fresh-water shells and crustaceans. In coloration it closely resembles Esaciis 

 magnirostris, but its upturned bill easily distinguishes it. Salvadori (d 1) has 

 found this diff'erence a sufficiently good reason for separating E. magnirostris generi- 

 cally from it. Like Mr. Hume, we cannot agree with this proceeding, and 

 trust for once in a way that the distinguished Italian ornithologist will have few 

 followers, even though Dr. Sharp e (d 8) is now to be found in his train. 



GENUS LOBIVANELLUS Strickl. 



Size rather large; bill about as long as the head or longer, a maxillary 

 groove along the basal two-thirds, nostril linear, in the middle of the groove. 

 A small hallux present, the other toes much shorter than the tarsus, which is 

 scutellated in front; tail generally longer than the tarsus. On the face a wattle 

 of variable size; on the carpus a larger or smaller spur. 



