ESACUS RECURV1R0STRIS. 975 



in the bill at front, which is less than in some specimens of the smaller Indian bird ; but the bill is very stout and 

 broad, measuring 075 inch in height at the base ; wing 10-6. The dimensions of an Andaman example (male) 

 are given by Mr. Hume as follows : — length 22-5 inches ; wing 11-0 ; tarsus 3"5 ; bill at front 3*1. 



Distribution. — This large Plover is a locally distributed bird in Ceylon, occurring all round the coast from 

 Chilaw and Puttalam northwards to Jaffna, and thence down the east coast to Trincomalie. Along this line 

 of sea-board it may be found here and there as isolated individuals or two or three together ; but it is nowhere 

 numerous. I have seen it on Karativoe Island, at Aripu, Manaar, on the Erinativoe Islands, and in many 

 places on the Jaffna peninsula, including the vicinity of Elephant Pass. About Trincomalie it is a resident 

 species, and extends inland to Kandelay tank. At other large sheets of water I have not seen it ; and in Ceylon 

 it is not diffused along the river-beds, as in India, but is almost entirely a littoral species. Southward of 

 Trincomalie I have seen it near tanks down to the Virgel, and also met with it between that river and 

 Batticaloa. It probably occurs in the neighbourhood of this latter place, and thence down the coast to Yala, 

 between which and Hambantota it is not uncommon. I have seen it there in March and in July, so that it 

 must be resident there as in the north. On the south-west I have never known it to occur. Layard was 

 under the impression that it was migratory, and states that he has seen it coming from the seaward in the 

 month of December. It is probable, therefore, that there may be a partial migration from the coast of India 

 at that time ; but as it breeds freely in the island, it is unquestionably, to a great extent, resident in it. 

 Mr. Holdsworth has seen it in August at Aripu, and I have observed it all through the year at Trincomalie, 

 although during the breeding-season it used to leave its wonted haunts about the harbour, and retire to secluded 

 sand hills and waste places to breed. 



In India it is apparently distributed here and there throughout the country, occurring only as a straggler 

 beyond Burmah ; and it seems to be more abundant in Central India along the valley of the Ganges, say 

 between the division of Chota Nagpur and the Delhi district, than elsewhere. In the Deccan it is said to be 

 "not uncommon" {Davidson) . In Chota Nagpur Mr. Ball records it from the Koel river and the rocky beds 

 of the Mahanadi and Ebe, in the Sambalpur district, and says it is particularly common on the Brahmini river 

 in Orissa ; he likewise records it from the Godaveri valley. About Calcutta it is rare, not more than a dozen 

 specimens on the average being seen iu the market in one season. Further east in Furreedpore it is rare, 

 according to Mr. Cripps. How far to the north in this direction it extends I do not know ; but there is a 

 specimen from Bhotan in the British Museum. On the Burmah rivers Blyth stated it to be common (Ibis, 

 1867, p. 165) ; but I find but little record of its occurrence in that country of late years. Captain Feilden 

 procured it on the Irrawaddy at Thayetmyo ; but Dr. Armstrong did not meet with it on the Delta. It is 

 rare in Tenasserim, where Mr. Davison met with it on the Houngthraw and Attaran rivers, and observes 

 that it is only occasionally seen there in pairs or in small parties. In the Andamans it is replaced by the 

 x\ustralian species. It is found along the sandy beds of rivers in the North-west Provinces, and extends into 

 the Punjab, where Mr. Hume says that it is found on all the great rivers, as also in Sindh on the Indus. 

 Captain Butler writes that in Northern Guzerat it is rare ; he procured a pair on a gravelly island in the bed 

 of a river between Ahmedabad and Deesa, and met with it once or twice elsewhere. It is also found, but 

 rarely, in Kattiawar, Cutch, and Jodhpore. It is doubtful, observes Captain Butler, whether it is migratory 

 or not to Guzerat. Hodgson was under the impression that this bird migrated to Thibet in winter ; but I 

 find no recent record of its occurrence beyond the Himalayas ; and the specimens he procured in Nepal were 

 in all probability following up the beds of the rivers for the purpose of breeding. 



Habits. — Both this and the last genus differ from true members of the great Plover family in their nocturnal 

 habits, for which their large eyes, which form such a marked characteristic, are eminently adapted. In Ceylon, 

 where the majority of the rivers, whose beds are half-dry during a great portion of the year, chiefly flow through 

 thick jungle, the Great Stone-Plover finds no congenial home on their banks ; and it consequently differs in 

 its habits from its fellows in India by frequenting the sea-shore, rocky islets in harbours, the sandy, gravelly 

 borders of tanks, or backwaters near the sea, and such like. They are very local, taking up their quarters 

 in one spot, particularly a rocky or shingly islet, for many months at a time; and so quiet are they in the day- 

 time that, though their quarters may be close to a public resort, they are scarcely ever seen or heard until 



