992 DEOMAS AEDEOLA. 



Head, hind neck, entire under surface, lower back, upper tail-coverts, shorter scapulars, lesser wing-coverts, a patch 

 below the winglet and entire under wing, except the terminal half of the primaries, white ; the occiput nearly 

 always faintly sullied with greyish ; a black spot in front of and behind the eye : scapulars, tertials, and median 

 wing-coverts passing from whitish at the base into very pale greyish at the tips : centre tail-feathers and outer 

 webs of the rest of the same colour, paling into whitish on the inner webs ; lower part of hind neck, intersca- 

 pular region, innermost row of the scapulars, outer webs, and terminal portion of the primaries and their coverts, 

 secondaries, greater wing-coverts, and winglet black, passing on the inner webs of the wing-feathers into white, 

 and glossed perceptibly on the back with green. 



Nestling in down. "Above dark grey, beneath white. Iris fuscous, bill blackish; feet pale leaden." (Von llewjlia.) 

 Captain Butler writes me that the nestling brought to him from the Persian Gulf was covered with uniform greyish- 

 white down, with black bill and dark legs and feet. 



First plumage (Massowah). Head and hind neck grey, the feathers with black central stripes ; lower hind neck, 

 interscapular region, and the innermost scapulars greyish black, the feathers margined with brownish grey ; 

 scapulars, tertials, and wing-coverts smoky grey ; primaries and secondaries brownish black ; tail smoky grey, 

 tipped with white ; beneath white, tinged with grey across the chest ; the grey chest and the pale margins of the 

 interscapular feathers are the signs of the first plumage. In the following winter the head is whitish, the black 

 stripes contrasting more with the margins of the feathers than in the quite young bird : the interscapulars are 

 blackish pervaded with grey, but not conspicuously margined as before ; the grey hue of the wings and tail paler 

 than before ; under surface all white. In the second year the occiput, nape, and down the centre of the head are 

 light ashy grey, the crown having become almost white ; and the black portions of the plumage are quite as glossy 

 as in the adult. In this dress birds are often procured in Ceylon. 



Obs. Indian examples correspond with Ceylonese in size. Those I have examined measure : — wing S'3 to S - 6 ; bill 

 to gape 2-9 to 3-2 inches. Mr. Hume gives the dimensions of four Andaman examples as : — Length 15 - 65 to 

 16-0 ; wing 8-05 to 8-3, expanse 28-5 to 29-5 ; tail 2-75 to 3-0 ; tarsus 3-5 to 3-75 ; bill from gape 2-75 to 2-8 : 

 weight 15 to 17 oz. The latter item, considering the size of the bird and its large head and bill, is noteworthy. 

 Von Heugliu's measurements of North-east African examples do not equal those of Asiatic birds ; but those of a 

 Eed-Sea specimen, referred to above, do ; and Layard gives the dimensions of South-African examples as — wing 

 8 - inches ; tail 2 inches 9 lines. Yon Heuglin's are : — length 141 inches ; wing 7 inches 8 lines to 7 inches 

 10 lines ; tail 2 inches lines ; tarsus 3 inches 3^ lines to 3 inches 8 lines ; bill at front 1 inch 114- lines (?) to 

 2 inches 3 lines. 



Distribution. — The Crab-Plover is found chiefly on the north shores of Ceylon. It occurs also on the 

 Jaffna islands, having been sent to Sir W. Jardiuo from Delft. On the east side of the island I have met with 

 it as far south as Trincomalie ; and I have no doubt it will occur as a straggler down the whole of the coast ; 

 on the west side it is common as far as Manaar, and an occasional visitant to places as far south as Colombo, 

 where it has occurred but once to my knowledge, when an example was shot by Mr. Bligb on the Galleface, on 

 the 11 th October, 1871. Further north it was procured by Layard on the Calpcntyn lake. On the Manaar 

 sand flats it was observed by me in great numbers in March 1876, and I have no doubt that it frequents, and 

 perhaps breeds on, the sand banks of Adam's Bridge. I saw it higher up the coast on the same occasion, 

 but did not meet with it at Jaffna. In the Trincomalie district it is not uncommon, and frequents the 

 shores of the salt lagoons and the mouths of the estuaries by which these backwaters discharge into the 

 sea. On the Peria-kerretje lake it is, perhaps, as numerous as anywhere iu that district; for I have met 

 with it there in small flocks of half a dozen or more. I have not noticed it anywhere in the hot season 

 (May to September) ; and it is probably, for the most part, a cool-weather visitant to Ceylon, departing north 

 to the coasts of India in April, although some most likely remain throughout the year and breed in the locality 

 above mentioned. The sand banks of Adam's Bridge should certainly be explored with a view to the discovery 

 of a breeding-place of the species among them. 



The habitat of the Crab-Plover may be said to consist of the shores of the Indian Oceau, including some 

 of the Mascarene islands from Natal northwards to the Red Sea, then round the coasts of Arabia, Persia, and 

 India down to Ceylon, including the Laccadive group, and thence up the east coast as far as Nellore, and 

 perhaps further north, and finally extending eastwards to the Andamans and Nicobars. 



Commencing with the last-named islands we find Yon Pelzeln recording it as having been procured by 



