HIMANTOPUS CANDIDUS. 921 



bill to gape 2 - 7 to 3-0 : weight 4-5 oz. to G-5 oz. Females. Length 14-0 to 14-9 ; wing 9-0 to 9-5, expanse 28-0 

 to 29-0 ; tail 3-0 to 3-3 ; bare portion of tibia 2-5 to 2-8 ; bill from gape 2-6 to 2-8 : weight 5-0 oz. to 5-5 oz." 



Other species of Stilt are : — 



Himantopus leucocephalus, Gould, which inhabits the Philippines and the Austro-Malayan region, differs in having 

 the whole head, nape, and throat pure white, with the hind neck black, taking the form of a longitudinal black band 

 with a sharply-defined transverse edge below the nape, and the same at the lower part of the neck, below which 

 it is white as far as the interscapulars, which, together with the wings, are green-black ; the lower parts, back, 

 and tail are white, the centre tail-feathers sullied with greyish. A male (Celebes) measures — wing 9-3 inches, 

 tarsus 4 - 6, bare tibia 3-0, bill to gape 2-4. At one stage, probably the second year, this species appears to 

 resemble some examples of the Common Stilt in having a greyish hind neck, for Blyth states that he has seen 

 Australian birds which corresponded with Indian specimens of the latter. 



Himantopus nova-zealandia;, Gould, is entirely sooty black, glossed on the upper surface with green. 



H. nigricollis, Vieill., and H. brasiliensis, Brehm., are American species, the former inhabiting North, and straying to 

 South, America, and having the hind neck glossy black, as also the head to in front of the eye. The latter, inhabiting 

 South America, has the hind neck black as far as the nape, from which two " horns " of the same colour advance to 

 the eyes. A Valparaiso example in the British Museum measures — wing 9 - 7 inches, tarsus 4-8, bill to gape 3 - 7. 



Distribution. — The Stilt is found in tolerable abundance in the northern and eastern parts of Ceylon, 

 extending on the latter side to the Hambantota district. It affects the backwaters, tidal lagoons, marshes, 

 and flooded fields in the wet season in the maritime districts, and is also partial to tanks, both large and 

 small, not very far inland, which, are surrounded by marshes of moderate extent. In the wet season they 

 move about a good deal, and are found in flooded lands in places where they are never seen in dry weather. 

 They are abundant in the breeding-season at Kanthelai, Minery, and other large marsh-begirt tanks in the 

 northern half of Ceylon ; and in the south-east of the island I have met with them in the Wellaway Korale, 

 as well as at their breeding-grounds in the coast-districts. In the Jaffna peninsula they frequent the large 

 lagoon between Ethelemaduvil and Potoor. In the north-east, between Trincomalie and Mullaittivu, they are 

 not common on the salt lagoons, except in the wet season, when they resort to the marshes surrounding these 

 localities. I have not seen any Stilts south of Cliilaw on the west coast. At Ai'ipu Mr. Holdsworth says 

 they are common during the rains. 



The present species is very abuudant in many parts of India, particularly in the north-west ; but it 

 appears to be chiefly a cold-weather visitant, the only districts in which it is resident and breeds being the 

 North-west Provinces near Delhi, and the western portion of Jodhpur near the Sambhur Lake. It is 

 decidedly a resident bird in Ceylon ; and I do not think that its numbers are much increased in the cool 

 weather, though there may be an influx at that time from the coast of India, and it is therefore all the more 

 strange that it should not be stationary in India. In the Deccan it is a cold- weather visitant, and common 

 in those districts which Messrs. Davidson and Wender collected in. The Rev. Dr. Fairbank records it from 

 Ahmednagar. On the eastern side of the peninsula, further north, it is apparently not so common, for I only 

 find it noted from the Rajmehal hills and Lohardugga, near Calcutta. Mr. Hume remarks that it is noticed 

 in the market about once a week in the cold season. In Furreedpore, Eastern Bengal, it is, says Mr. Cripps, 

 " common in the larger swamps in small batches of eight or ten. By the end of March they commence 

 leaving the district." On the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal its numbers diminish materially. In Pegu 

 a few appear at times, but it is not a common bird (Oates) ; and in Tenasserim it is perhaps rarer still, for, 

 besides being recorded by Captain W. Ramsay from the Karen hills, it has only been rarely observed 

 about the creeks in the tract between the Salween and Sittang {Hume) . Turning westward again, we find 

 it stated to be common in the Goorgaon district, near Delhi, in Upper India, where there is a " central 

 breeding-haunt." In Jodhpoor it is abundant in the cold season; immense flocks frequent the Sambhur 

 Lake from the commencement of the rains until the beginning of the hot weather; and in September 

 Mr. Adam obtained nestlings there. In February Mr. Hume met with it during the drought in small tanks 

 and pools in other parts of Jodhpoor, and also in the month of February in Oodeypore. In Guzerat it is 

 common in the cold weather, arriving about July ; and it occurs, says Capt. Butler, round the edges of the 

 lake at Mt. Aboo. It is likewise common in Cutch and Kattiawar, but less so in Sindh than in Upper India. 

 In Kashgar it is a seasonal visitant, writes Dr. Scully, and breeds there. It arrives in May, and probably 



