( J26 RECURVIROSTRA AVOCETTA. 



white of the chest and back. In the winter the red parts are pure white, and in the autumn they are said to be 

 grey. An example in the national collection has the wing 8 - 6 inches. 



The other American species forms one of the most interesting cases of isolated habitat among the whole order of 

 Waders. It is the R. andina of Messrs. Philippi and Landbeck, and was obtained at the Lake of Paruncota, in 

 the Andes, at an elevation of 16,000 feet, in June 1863, by Herr Frobeen. As regards the head and neck it 

 resembles the species just named in winter plumage, but has the entire wings, mantle, and tail black. The wing 

 is given as measuring 9*6 inches. 



R. novae-hollandim, Vieillot, from Australia and New Zealand, has the entire head, throat, and chest rich chestnut- 

 red at all seasons, sharply defined against the white of the breast; the primaries, greater and median coverts, and 

 the inner series of scapular-feathers black. The wing of a specimen in the national collection measures 9-0 inches ; 

 tarsus 3 - 5. 



Distribution. — This well-known and widely-dispersed species was obtained many years ago near Jaffna, 

 and is, perhaps, a not unfrecpuent straggler to Ceylon. Layard, who records its occurrence, says : — "A pair 

 of these birds were shot by my esteemed friend D. Quinton, Esq., at Clmndicolom, near Jaffna, on the 

 estuary." I have not heard of its having since been observed in Ceylon ; but, as it is only a cool-season visitant 

 to these low latitudes, it may easily escape observation during its sojourn in Ceylon. 



In India it is not a numerous bird, but is widely diffused throughout the coast-districts, particularly of 

 the northern part, though it does not seem to extend to the countries beyond the Bay of Bengal, mustering 

 in greatest force in the north-west. About Calcutta, on the Ilooghly and Ganges, it occurs yearly, appearing, 

 according to Mr. Hume, in the market generally in March. Col. Tickell met with it on the Ilooghly below 

 Calcutta and at the mouths of the Eoopnarain ; but he states that inland, on the Ganges and its tributaries, nor 

 on the Mahanadi, he never met with it. Jcrdon, however, must have met with it in the interior, as he asserts 

 that it frequents the edges of tanks and rivers ; and Mr. Hume writes that they are " seen on the banks of 

 rivers and large pieces of water " in Upper India. lie met with it in the smaller tanks of the district of 

 Jodhpoor in January 1878, during a drought which had lasted for fifteen months previous to his visit. In the 

 cold season of 1873-74 large flocks visited the Sambhur Lake, although during previous years this had been 

 rare in that district [Adam). In Sindh Mr. Hume found it common and associating in large flocks at the 

 inland sheets of water, especially the Muncher Lake. In the Thurr, Pakur, and Cutch districts he states that 

 is comparatively rare; but in the neighbourhood of Deesa it is more common, as he writes that " he once, 

 towards the end of April, saw a flock of fully one hundred on a small village pond, a mere puddle, below one 

 of the bungalows between Deesa and Ahmedabad." In the same locality Capt. Butler records it as occurring 

 " either singly or in small parties." It occurs in Persia, where Mr. Blanford procured it at the Shiraz Lake 

 (4700 feet) in June ; here Major St. John met with it, as also at the lake of Dastarjin. In Palestine it is a 

 resident, according to Canon Tristram, but scarce; and in Arabia Mr. J. K. Lord met with it. It breeds, says 

 Severtzoff, in the north-western and north-eastern districts of Turkestan up to an elevation of 1000 feet above 

 the sea. Though it does not extend apparently to the northern parts of Siberia, where it has not beeu noticed 

 by .Messrs. Finsch, Seebohm, or Von Middendorff, nor yet in Amoor Land, it is found, according to Pallas and 

 Radde, in Southern Siberia, Mongolia, and Tartary j and Col. Prjevalsky states that it " is a tolerably common 

 spring migrant to South-east Mongolia, about the end of March, when it principally keeps to the shores of 

 saltwater lakes, in small flocks of five to fifteen individuals. . . . We found it breeding on the Yellow River, 

 and noticed that the first birds arrived in spring in Koko-nor on the 17th of March, where they were not 

 scarce throughout the month." He did not see it in the Ussuri country. Pere David likewise says that it 

 breeds sparingly on the banks of the Hoaug-ho or Yellow River. 



It appears to be rare in Japan ; Messrs. Blakiston and Pryer instance its occurrence at Susaki, in Tokio ; 

 and Temminek and Schlegel include it in the ' Fauna Japonica.' Swinhoe says that it occurs on the coast of 

 China in winter, extending to Formosa and Hainan. This appears to be the limit of its range in this region, 

 as it is not found in the Philippines nor in the Malay archipelago. 



In Europe its habitat lies between lat. 60° and the Mediterranean. It breeds in the north of Germany 

 and in Denmark and Holland, as also in some of the Frisian islands and the adjoining mainland, in which 

 latter district Mr. Durnford met with it nesting in May 1874. It is common in Holland, and used to be so 



