858 TOTANUS GLAREOLA. 



on the outer webs, and the centre feathers striped with brown ; axillary plumes white, barred distantly with 

 brown (in old birds the bars are almost obsolete) ; under wing-coverts white, scantily barred with brown. 

 The coloration of the chest varies ; scarcely any two specimens are alike ; but in general the centre part is whitish, 

 continued down from the throat. 



Summer plumage (Ainoy, May, $ ). Above darker than in winter, the feathers being brownish black on the head, 

 back, scapulars, and wing-coverts, the head striated with white, owing to the clearly defined lateral white margins 

 of the feathers ; the marginal spots and bars on the scapulars and tertials with sharper edges than in winter ; 

 the stripes on the sides of the throat, face, and fore neck are dark brown ; the chest-feathers have many cross 

 bars of brown, and the flanks and sides of the breast are barred with blackish brown ; under wing more closely 

 barred than in winter. This example measures : — wing 5 - inches ; tail 2-2; tarsus 1"5 ; middle toe 1 - 1 ; bill to 

 gape 1-35. It is a large bird. An April specimen from Ainoy entirely corresponds with Ceylonese examples of 

 that date, and measures : — wing 4-8 inches ; tarsus 1-35 ; bill to gape 1-2. 



Young, nestling in down (Petchora river). Ground-colour of upper surface and wings warm fulvous buff, patched 

 down the centre of the hind neck and back with velvety black ; crown entirely black, the colour running in a 

 point down to the bill ; a stripe of the same from the bill through the eye, widening behind it ; upper part of 

 eyelid black ; a black band down the centre of the wing, a broad patch on the femur, and the down of the tibia 

 of the same colour ; beneath whitish, tinged with buff across the throat. 



Bill at front 0-45 inch ; tarsus 0-85 ; middle toe 0-91 (longer than the tarsus at this stage). 



Birds of the year, in the plumage in which many arrive in Ceylon, have the upper surface more spotted than in adults, 

 the edgings of the feathers being of a fulvous hue. 



Obs. The measurements of Indian examples are as follows: — (Irrawaddy delta) J : length 9 - 15 inches ; wing 4*8, 

 expanse 14-75; tail 2-1; tarsus 1-5; bill from gape 1-45. J: length 8-3 ; wing 4-85 ; tail 2-0; tarsus 1*55; 

 bill to gape T3. (Armstrong.) European examples correspond with Indian and Chinese birds. 



Distribution. — This Sandpiper is extraordinarily abundant in Ceylon. It arrives before the Snipe, and 

 when it is met with in the paddy-fields in September sportsmen begin to look out for their favourite birds. 

 It makes its appearance in large numbers during the first few days in September ; but in some seasons very 

 many are found at their usual haunts in August, early in which, in 1876, I met with it at Pusella, on the road 

 to Ratnapura, and found it in paddy-fields under the Karawita hills a week later. It is diffused throughout 

 all the low country, being most numerous where there are large extents of paddy-fields or many tanks. On 

 the forest-rivers it is rarely seen, its place being taken there in small numbers by the next species. As the 

 country is more cultivated in the west and south of the island its numbers there exceed those in other parts. 

 According to my experience it is not at all common in the hills, except where the valleys are cultivated with 

 paddy. To this rule, however, the recently constructed lake at Nuwara Eliya forms an exception, as I saw 

 numbers on its borders in January 1877; prior to the existence of this water, I believe it was quite unknown 

 in the upper hills. Some few are occasionally seen about the Colombo lake; and in April 1876 a small 

 number frequented this locality for the whole month. At the end of April, and during the first week in May, 

 they collect in very large flocks and fly northward during the night ; and one year on the 28th of April 

 immense numbers passed over Colombo after dark, piping loudly. 



It is abundant and widely spread throughout the Indian empire, arriving in the north-west (Guzerat) 

 according to Captain Butler, as early as the 7th of August and departing about the 12th of May. Amono- 

 other places in the interior we find it recorded as common in the Deccan ; and from Ahmednagar the 

 Rev. Dr. Fairbank notes it. It is found on all the rivers in Chota Nagpur; and Mr. Ball notices it from the 

 Godaveri valley, while Mr. Hume cites it as occurring in Raipur. In the neighbourhood of Calcutta it is so 

 extraordinarily abundant, that Mr. Hume estimates that there, must be nearly 15,000 sold during the season 

 in the market of that city. Notwithstanding its numbers there, I find that Mr. Cripps does not record it from 

 Furreedpore. In the plains of Guzerat it is common, and has been obtained by Capt. Butler in summer 

 plumage at Mount Aboo on the 8th of May. It is rare, according to Mr. Hume, in Sindh and in portions 

 of Jodhpoor ; and in Kattiawar Major Hayes-Lloyd did not notice it. The next species is much more common 



