Vol. xl.] 30 
1918, and had been sent to Mr. Witherby by Mr. W. C. Tait. 
Dr. Hartert had confirmed the identification, and it was 
interesting to find this race breeding so far west as 
Portugal. 
Mr. J. Stewart exhibited a series of eggs of Sarctophorus 
malabaricus and made the following remarks :— 
At the suggestion of Mr. Stuart Baker I have prepared 
the following few notes on Sarciophorus malabaricus (the 
Yellow-wattled Lapwing), the eggs of which are now being 
exhibited. 
This small Lapwing has already been recorded from 
several parts of India and Ceylon, but my experience of it 
in Southern India is that its distribution is very local—in 
fact, I have only come across the bird near the Malabar 
coast, where it is a permanent resident and fairly common. 
It breeds on small undulating hills of useless waste land, 
where the soil is so hard and poor that it cannot grow 
sufficient vegetation to cover the ground. Many of the hills, 
indeed, are quite bare and free from grass or scrub jungle. 
The soil on these hills is laterite, locally called cabook. 
This laterite is better described as a soft rock of a brick-red 
colour ; it is easily cut into any shape or size with a broad- 
pointed pickaxe made for the purpose. 
The natives cut the laterite into large-sized bricks, and 
use them for building the walls of their houses—it makes a 
substantial wall that will stand for ages as long as it is kept 
dry and protected from rain. 
On the surface of the ground of these hills there is usually 
a quantity of loose red gravel or stones, which closely match 
the red type of egg, béth in colour and size, making it 
difficult to find the nests. 
The birds breed during the S.W. monsoon, from the 
middle of April to the middle of August, and I have taken, 
or had fresh eggs brought to me, at all times during che 
four months. They appear to rear two broods in that tine. 
The red type of eggs were first taken by a collector of 
mine in 1912, and to make sure that they were the eggs of 
