748 Birds of Celebes: Charadriidae. 



Eggs. Bering Island, where a few nests were discovered by Dr. Stejneger, is the only 

 spot from where eggs are as j'et known. Dr. Stejneger (8) describes them as 

 resembling those of A. semipalmata, but larger, somewhat deeper in ground colour, 

 in two examples more olive, in the others more buff; the spots in general smaller, 

 herein more like eggs of A. hiaticitla. Two of the nests contained three eggs; size 

 in 7 examples: 36—37.25 X 26.5—27.25 mm. 



Nest. In a slight hollow in the ground between the stems of four Angelica archangelica, 

 formed of the leaves and stems of this plant, and numerous seeds of the same 

 (Stejneger S — nest from Toporkof Islet, Bering Is., 4* June, 1883). 



Distribution. N. America — Alaska (g 16, g IP", 13); Asia from East Siberia and Kamtschatka 

 (g 13) west to Turkestan fb S, g 27) and Palestine (g 10], south to Oman (g 20) and 

 Aden (g 10, g 30); East Africa from Egypt (h 5) to the SomaU coast (b IV), Lamu 

 (g 22) and Zanzibar (b 10); India {Bljth g 12, J evdon g 10, g 12; etc.); Ceylon 

 (Legge g 10); Laccadive Is. (Hume g 6); Andamans (Tytler g 12, etc. .3, h 2); 

 Nicobars (Hume & Davis, h 2); Burmah (Gates g 14); Tenasserim (Davison 2); 

 Malay Peninsula (Kelham g 13, Hume 4); China (Swinhoe 1, David g7, etc.); 

 Japan (Blakiston, etc. b 11); Hainan (Swinhoe g 10); Phihppines (Everett, etc. 

 g 11, g 32); Borneo (Schwaner, etc. g 25); Sumatra (f. Salvadori g 34); Java 

 (Horsfield g 12); Celebes — (Rosenberg b 7), Gorontalo Distr. (Riedel g 21), 

 Miuahassa (Nat. Coll.), Buton Id. (S. Miiller e 1, e 2); Moluccas — Morty, Hal- 

 mahera, Ceram (f. Salvadori g 12); Papuasia — Waigiou, Salawatti, New Guinea, 

 Aru, Louisiades, Duke of York Id., Admiralty Is., Torres Str. Is. (f. Salvadori 

 g 12); N. Australia (E. P. Ramsay g 24, i 2). 



Count Salvadori (g 12) includes Madagascar in its range, but the species is 

 not admitted by Hartlaub nor by Milne-Edwards & Grandidier. 



The present species, always distinguishable by its much smaller bill and 

 tarsus from its near ally, A. geoffroyi, has a range somewhat similar to that bird, 

 but it is known to occur much further north in Asia. Severtzow observed 

 it breeding in Turkestan, and Stoliczka also noticed it apparently breeding 

 there, but its nest, like those of other Aegialitis-s^eciQs, is most difficult to find, 

 and Dr. Stejneger alone has as yet succeeded in finding the eggs, viz. in 

 Bering Island, where the bird is very plentiful in summer. In autumn it mi- 

 grates south, visiting Aden, as Barnes observed; Ceylon, according to Legge, 

 in numbers in September and October; India: passing through China in spring 

 and autumn, as shown by the remarks of David and De I^a Touche; and oc- 

 curring as a winter visitor, rare apparently, in the East Indies. But, as in the 

 case of A. geoffroyi and many other migrants, some individuals appear to remain 

 in the tropics throughout the year; Salvadori records an example killed on 

 an island in Torres Straits in May, and another from Halmahera in July, while 

 Hume and Davison (h 2) show that many remain on the Andamans all the 

 year round, and Butler noticed that this was the case at Kurrachee in regard 

 to A. moiigola and a number of other waders. But the opinion expressed by 

 the latter observer (and it is also suggested by Baird, Brewer and Ridgway 

 touching Strepsilas interpres in the words : "Do birds after they have become old, 

 effete, or barren, prefer to stay in a warm climate?" — Water B. N. Am. I, 123) 



