471 



1872.] MR. E. W. H. HOLDSWORTH ON CEYLONESE BIRDS. 



breeding-plumage. Throughout the winter they are abundant in 

 the north, and are occasionally seen as far south as Colombo, fre- 

 quenting the esplanade with some of the smaller Plovers. 



Bill black ; irides brown ; feet dark leaden. 



Ceylon, India, Eastern Asia to Australia, and Polynesia. 



226. iEGIALITES MONGOLICUS, Pall. 



Mr. Edmund Harting, in a series of exhaustive papers "On 

 rare or little known Limicolee " ('Ibis' 1870), has worked out the 

 synonymy of this species, among others, and identified the bird 

 given by Jerdon under M. pyrrhothorax, Temm., with that de- 

 scribed W Pallas. It is doubtless the one mentioned by Layard as 

 Hiaticula leschenaultii, Less., as I have no reason to think the 

 much larger JE. geofroyii, Wagler, is found in Ceylon. 



JE. mongolicus is a winter visitor to Ceylon, and is then very 

 abundant on the coast, commonly associating with M. cantianus. 

 All the specimens I have examined have been in winter dress. 



Bill black ; irides dark brown ; legs grey, leet dark grey. 



Asia to North Australia. 



227. iEoiALiTES cantianus, Lath. 



Mr Harting has been good enough to examine my specimens of 

 this and the preceding species, and he tells me that a small Plover 

 which I had been unable to identify is the young of & cantianus. 

 I obtained specimens of this species in different states of plumage ; 

 but the greater number of these birds found in Ceylon are young ones, 

 and apparently diminutives of M. mongolicus. I have occasionally 

 got specimens in nearly, if not quite, full plumage. 



Bill black ; irides dark brown ; feet dark grey, legs paler (m the 

 young). 



Europe, Asia. 



228. iEoiALiTES dubius, Scop. 

 JEgialites philippensis, Scop., apud Jerdon. 



This well-known little Plover is common in Ceylon, and, I believe, 

 resident there, as it is certainly found during a great part of the 

 year at Aripo. Although associating to some extent with the other 

 Sand-Plovers, it does not always keep with the party, but wanders 

 off to some distance when feeding. It is particularly fond of stand- 

 ing on any little natural elevation of the ground or heap of rubbish 

 on the beach. 



Bill black ; irides dark brown ; feet yellow. 



Ceylon, India, eastward to China and Japan. 



229. Chettusia gregaria, Pall. 



I have identified a single specimen of this Plover shot by Mr. 

 Bligh on the Galle face at Colombo. It has not been before observed 



in Ceylon. 



Ceylon, parts of India, West Asia, and South-east Europe. 



