686 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



the nape, wings, and tail bluish-ashy ; winglet and primaries slaty- 

 blue ; an irregular bar of white across the wings ; upper tail- 

 coverts black powdered with ashy ; tail-feathers cross-barred with 

 brownish black, and all the feathers, except the two central ones, 

 largely tipped with black, the outermost feather with a white 

 outer- web ; chin and throat black, the neck ashy, and a broad 

 gorget of black on the breast edged with white anteriorly ; the 

 rest beneath, including the under surface of the wings and under 

 tail-coverts pure white. 



Bill deep crimson ; irides red ; legs blood red. Length 16^ 

 inches ; extent nearly 30 ; wing 9% ; tail 4| ; bill 3f ; tarsus 2£. 

 Weight 9^ to 1 ozs. 



This remarkable bird has only been found in the Himalayas. 

 Hodgson first found it on the banks of sandy streams in Nepal 

 in October, he described it as not being gregarious, and observed 

 its food to consist of minute univalves. I met with it on the 

 banks of the Great Rungeet, in Sikim, occasionally single, 

 generally in small parties of five or six. It runs along the pebbly 

 edge of the river, and is exceedingly wary. Mountaineer mentions 

 that the Red-billed Curlew is found in all large rivers which rise 

 from the snow and have a broad sandy channel ; Adams observed it 

 on a river in Ladakh, but by no means common. 



Hodgson found the stomach to be small and muscular, and the 

 intestines moderately long, with two long caeca. 



Sub-fam. Tringin.e, Stints, &c. 



Bill short or moderate, soft, and somewhat flexible, occasionally 

 dilated or curved ; wings long ; tail short ; legs moderately short ; 

 the toes usually divided to the base, or with a very rudimentary 

 web. 



The Stints differ from the Godwits by their shorter bill and legs ; 

 and from the Sandpipers by their shorter and softer bills, combined 

 with a greater delicacy of tact, which is equal to that of the 

 Godwits, but less than that of the Snipes. They have also a greater 

 tendency to associate in flocks than many of the Totanince. They 

 feed in marshes, paddy fields, edges of tanks, rivers, &c, but 

 affect concealment or cover more perhaps than the Sandpipers. They 



