iEGIALITIS GEOFFROYI. 941 



Chandballi river, north of the Godaveri. At the Laccadives it was not very common, according- to Mr. Hume, 

 for he only procured it at two islands — Cardamum and Kiltan. At Calcutta it is only rarely seen in the 

 market ; but on the eastern shores of the bay it appears to be more common. Dr. Armstrong- says he found it 

 abundant on the sands and mud banks near Elephant Point. It visits the Andamans and Nicobars. Capt. 

 Ramsay got it in South Andaman ; and it was observed by Mr. Hume at Port Blair, Macpherson's Straits, 

 Camorta, and Montschall ; it remains until the middle of May, and specimens have been procured in September. 

 Mr. Hume met with it at Kurrachee harbour in thousands, and subsequently writes of its general distribution 

 in the north-west as follows : — " I procured this species in Northern Guzerat, on the borders of the river. It 

 is very common during the cold season along the coasts of Sindh, Cutch, and Kattiawar. But neither in 

 Sindh nor in Jodhpoor do I know of its occurring inland, except at the time of its migration, from the 10th 

 August till the 15th September, or during April and May, when, as in the case of Squatarola helvetica (which 

 leaves earlier and returns later), it is met with at large pieces of water inland." Mr. Adam has obtained it in 

 August in breeding-plumage at the Sambhur Lake. It is one of those species which Captain Butler noticed 

 in the harbour at Kurrachee in the hot season. Proceeding beyond the confines of India, we find Severtzoff 

 recording the capture of three specimens only in Turkestan in June, July, and August. One of these, the 

 second, was obtained at Lake Chatir-Kul, at an altitude of 11,000 feet above the sea, and the third on the east 

 coast of the Caspian. It must therefore breed in that country. In Asia Minor it has been procured by 

 Mr. Danford ; and in Palestine Canon Tristram found it, in company with the next species and the Common 

 Dotterel, overspreading in flocks the desert between Arabah and Beersheba. Northward it extends to the 

 shores of the Red Sea and the north coast of Egypt. In the peninsula of Sinai both Mr. J. K. Lord and 

 Mr. C. W. Wyatt observed it, the latter gentleman having met with it in large flocks near Tor. Von Heuglin 

 saw it in winter on the north coast of Egypt ; and Captain Shelley saw a flock of about thirty on Lake Mareotis 

 in the beginning of February, and near Damietta again observed considerable flocks of a Plover, which he 

 considers was the present species. Von Heuglin met with it all along the coast of the Red Sea and Gulf of 

 Aden, and considers it to be resident there, as he observed it from June until November. Mr. Blanford 

 procured it at Massowa and in Annesley Bay, and at Zanzibar Dr. Kirk obtained it. It extends to Madagascar, 

 where it was found to be common by Messrs. Schlegel and E. Newton. In the Seychelles group the latter 

 gentleman procured it on the island of Mahe : he likewise records it from Mauritius. Its range extends to 

 Cape Colony, where it is rare, according to Layard, who procured but one specimen on the Salt River, near 

 Cape Town. On the south-west coast it is recorded from Benguela by Professor Barboza de Bocage ; and this 

 locality is by far its westernmost limit. 



Returning to trace out its distribution in Eastern Asia, I do not find it recorded by any traveller from 

 Siberia or Amoor Land, so that we may safely say that it has not a high northern range, although Mr. Whitely 

 procured it in Japan. It must be, however, rare in these islands, for Messrs. Blakiston and Pryer do not record 

 it. It is found on the China coast in winter, according to Swinhoe; moreover Pere David states that numbei-s 

 are to be seen in the Shanghai market in May, as many in breeding-dress as in that of winter. In the 

 island of Formosa Swinhoe found it breeding, obtaining its eggs on the sandy coasts ; and it is probable that 

 the young birds there are those which migrate as far south as the north coasts of Australia. It is said to have 

 been found in the Philippines, and by Godeffroy in the Pelew Islands. It is spread throughout the Malay 

 archipelago, being found on some of its islands in the breeding-season ; for in Celebes Meyer observed it on the 

 Lake of Tondano in the month of June, and on that of Limbotto in July. It has been obtained in many 

 places in Borneo by Diard, Schwaner, Mottley, and others j and in Sumatra (Lampong, &c.) and Java it has also 

 been procured, having been first described by Horsfield from the latter island. Other islands on which it 

 has been noticed are Flores, Timor, Gilolo, and Morotai. In New Guinea it was obtained by Herr Miiller ; 

 and on the opposite coast of North Australia it is recorded from several localities, viz. Cape York (whence 

 Mr. Harting has skins), Port Darwin, Port Essington, and the Gulf of Carpentaria, while from Rockingham 

 Bay Mr. Ramsay likewise notes it. 



Habits. — This Sand-Plover, as its name implies, is an inhabitant of the sea-shore, frequenting alike the 

 sands on the open coast and the ooze and muddy foreshores of tidal lagoons, creeks, backwaters, and salt 

 lakes in the vicinity of the sea. It does not, so far as I have observed, associate with any other species but the 



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