230 



VANELLIN-^. 



terminal dark band, and broadly tipped white ; back, scapulars and ter- 

 tials pale brown ; primaries and their coverts black ; greater wing- 

 coverts like the back basally^ and broadly edged and tipped with 

 white, forming a conspicuous wing band. 



Length. — 12'5 to 13 inches, wing £"5, tail 4*75, bill at front r27, 

 wattles red. 



Hab. — Throughout India, Beloochistan, Persia, and Afghanistan. In 

 Sind it is every whex"e common, during both winter and summer, and 

 breeds in the Province from April to July. It is an extremely noisy 

 bird, and especially so during the breeding season. Its vulgar name 

 "Did he do it" is very appropriately given, being its continuous cry, 

 with " Pity to do it," the place resounding with its almost endless 

 echoes, till the intruder is out of reach of its nest. The nest is usually 

 a small depression in the earth, with or without lining of any kind, and 

 made in the vicinity of a marsh. The eggs are generally of a deep green 

 colour, irregularly marked with blotches and streaks of a brownish 

 black. 



Gen. Sarciophorus. — StHckl. 



Wattles yellow ; bill rather slender ; hind toe absent. 



Sarciophorus bilobus, Gmel. ; F.E. 880; Jerd. B. Ind. iii. p. 

 649, No. 856. Lobipluvia malabaricus, Boc^d. ; Murray, Hdhk., Zool.,, 

 8)-c., p. 211.— The Yellow-wattled Lapwing. 



Breeding Plumage. — Head and nape black ; ear-coverts white, ex- 

 tending behind the nape; chin and throat black; neck in front and 

 behind, also the back, scapulars and tertiaries pale brown ; breast slight- 

 ly darker, edged with dark brown ; rest of the under surface including 

 the upper and lower tail-coverts white ; tail white, with a black band 

 subterminally and a white tip, except three of the lateral tail feathers, 

 which are white, with a subterminal dusky spot on the outer web of 

 the third feather; primaries and their coverts black ; the inner webs of 

 the primaries white, decreasing in extent to the inner ones ; secondaries 

 basally white, and terminated with black ; greater wing-coverts like the 

 back, but broadly tipped and edged with white, forming a conspicuous 

 white wing band. 



Length. — 11 to ir75 inches, wing 8'25, tail 3 '25, bill at front 1 ; 

 irides brown, bill yellow at the base, the rest black ; wattles yellow. 



Hah. — Nearly throughout India and Ceylon. In Sind it is a resident, 

 frequenting dry stony or grassy plains usually in company with Gtirsorius 

 isabellinus or galUcus. Breeds in August on the edges of cultivated 

 land. The eggs are not unlike those of L. indicus, but are smaller, 

 and have a stone colour ground, with deep brown and nearly black blot- 

 ches. In the winter plumage, the chin and throat and the black 

 edges to the feathers of the breast below are wanting, and the upper 

 plumage is duller or paler brown. 



Hoplopterus.— Bp. 



Shoulder of wing with a stout spur. No hind toe in the Indian 

 species. 



