758 
Birds of Celebes: Charadriidae. 
For further synonymy and references cf. Salvador! 13, 29\ Sharpe 57. 
Figures and descriptions. Gould II, 5\ Buller XXIV-, Seebohm 22 (woodcut); Salv. 75; 
Sharpe 57. 
Adult. Entire head and nape, a collar above the mantle, lower back, rump, upper 
tail-coverts and tail, and entire under-parts white; hind-neck, mantle and 
wings (including under wing-coverts) black, glossed with green; “iris yellow; bill black; 
legs bright red”: Guillem. 17 (K Celebes: Faber — 0 3566). 
“Iris red” [(;f, P. & F. Saras in). 
Sexes. According to Gould, the male is larger than the female. 
Young of the first autumn. “Crown of the head and hind-neck dusky black, mottled with 
white; shoulders spotted with black darkening towards the back; upper part of back 
and scapulars brownish black; upper surface of wings glossy black; the median coverts 
as well as the feathers of the back narrowly tipped with brown; lower part of back 
and rumj) white; tail-feathers dull black, tipped with brown, their coverts (which are 
very fluffy) plumbeous at the base, white on their apical portion, and tipjjed with 
yellowish brown; lining of wings black, the rest of the plumage pure white; bill black, 
brownish towards the base; irides reddish yellow; legs pale yellow; the claws brown” 
(Buller XXIV). 
A young specimen in the Dresden Museum differs from the adult in wanting 
the black hind neck, the entire neck being white like the under-jtarts, the crown 
and occiput smoke -grey, the mantle mottled with grey, the upper back brown (Q, 
Limbotto, July, 1871: Meyer — 0 1989). 
Other stages of plumage are described by Sir Walter Buller (XXIV). 
Measurements. 
Wing 
Tail 
Tarsus 
Bill from 
forehead 
a. (0 1988) o’ ad., Limbotto, July, 71 (Meyer). 
b. (0 3566) ad., N. Celebes (Faber) 
c. (0 3565) ad., N. Celebes (Faber) 
d. (C 5251) ad., Gorontalo, Jan. 76 (v. Mussch.) 
e. (C 1989) juv., Limbotto, July, 71 (Meyer). . 
f. (Sarasin Coll.) ad., Lake Posso, 21. II. 95 
g. (Sarasin Coll.) $ ad.. Lake Posso, 21. II. 95 
222 
223 
222 
240 
194 
232 
224 
70 
120 
60 
75 
118 
61 
70 
lit 
65 
79 
116 
— 
64 
98 
54 
76 
118 
67 
75 
97 
63 
Eggs. 4. “The East Indian eggs are clay-yellow, with numerous, sharply delineated, black 
and black-brown spots. The measurements are 40 — 41 X 32 mm” (Nehrkorn MS.). 
See, also. North 26, Buller XXIV. 
Nest. “A slight structure ... a few short pieces of rush and grass, placed in and around 
a depression at the foot of a clump of rushes growing near the water’s edge of a 
lagoon” (South Grafton, Australia: Ramsay 26). Sometimes no nest is made 
(Buller XXIV). 
Distribution. All Australia (Gould II, Ramsay 23); New Zealand (Buller XXIV); New 
Guinea; Ferguson Id.; Mysol; Amboina; Ternate (cf. Schleg. 5, Salvad. 13, 29); 
Ceram (Ribbe 57); Celebes — Tondano (Reinw. a 1, Meyer 9), Limbotto (Forsten 5, 
V. Rosenb. 5, etc.). Lake Tempe, S. Celebes [Weber 55), Lake Posso (P.& F. S. 5o), 
Saleyer (Everett 36); Timor (S. Muller 5); Rotti (ten Kate 32); Sumbawa 
(Forsten 5); Java (S. Muller 3, de Bocarmd 5); Borneo (Schwaner 5, 25); 
Philippines — Mindanao (Cuming 7, Steere 28). 
The White-headed Stilt is a breeding species in Celebes, as is shown by 
a young specimen in down in the Leyden Museum. It is a common bird on 
