ESACUS KECUimmSTRIS. 
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 106. 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 Ilambantota it is not uncommon. I have seen it there in March and in J uly, 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 Burmali ; 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 in the market in one season. Further east in Furreedpore it is rare, 
accordin' 1 - 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 Burmali rivers Blyth stated it to be common (Ibis, 
1867, p. 165) ; but 1 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 
Australian 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 Jodlipore. 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 baekw r aters 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 mouths 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 
