Part 44

Basilan (McGregor); Bohol (Everett); Cagayancillo (McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Catanduanes (Whitehead); Cebu (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Guimaras (Steere Exp.); Leyte (Everett); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Everett); Mindanao (Everett, Steere Exp., Goodfellow); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Negros (Bourns & Worcester); Palawan (Platen, Whitehead, Steere Exp., White); Panay (Steere Exp.); Sibuyan (McGregor); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester). Europe and northern Asia to Japan, in winter to India, Africa, and Malay Archipelago; accidental in California and Alaska.

"Adult male.--Above light brown, a little darker on rump and central tail-coverts; sides of rump and lateral upper tail-coverts pure white; wing-coverts like back; feathers round the bend of wing darker brown; alula blackish with white tips; primary-coverts blackish; primary quills blackish, internally lighter brown, with dark shafts to all the primaries except the first, where it is white; secondaries dusky, lighter and more ashy brown internally, inner secondaries smoky brown, with a good deal of white on both webs, the long inner secondaries like the back; tail ashy brown, tipped with white, and with a subterminal black bar, outer feathers more distinctly edged with white, the two outermost almost entirely white, with a black patch on inner web corresponding to the subterminal bar on the rest of the feathers; base of forehead, lores, feathers above and below eye, and ear-coverts black; a broad frontal band of white, followed by another broad band of black above the eye, which is again succeeded by another black line, which widens out above the eye and forms a distinct eyebrow; hinder crown as far as nape ashy brown; round the neck a broad white collar, continuous with the white throat, and followed by a broad band of black on lower hind neck, and continued across fore neck, widening out on the sides; cheeks, throat, and under surface pure white, including under wing-coverts and axillars. 'Bill dusky black; feet flesh-color; iris dusky brown; ring round eye bright yellow.' (Emin.) Length, 173; culmen, 15; wing, 117; tail, 60; tarsus, 25; middle toe with claw, 20.

"Adult female.--Similar to the male, but with the markings not so well developed, especially the black markings of the face and the black bands on the hind neck and fore neck, the latter being much mixed with brown. 'Bill black; feet pale flesh-color; iris dark brown; ring round eye bright yellow.' (Hartert.) Length, 165; culmen, 16; wing, 117; tail, 60; tarsus, 25.

"Young.--Differs from the adults in wanting the black on the head, as well as the black collars on the mantle and fore neck; general tone of the plumage more rufescent than in the adults, and the whole of the upper surface varied with wavy lines of pale sandy buff, before which is a subterminal dusky bar; forehead pale sandy buff; ear-coverts dusky blackish; the collar on the fore neck composed of brown feathers, with generally a tinge of sandy buff on the throat. The black markings on the head and the black collars are gained by a molt in the following spring. There appears to me to be also a change of feathers especially on the neck collar." (Sharpe.)

This little plover was abundant along the Baco River in the vicinity of Balete, Mindoro, where it nested on the extensive gravel-flats exposed by low water. A nest found April 24, 1905, was a slight hollow, lined with a mosaic of small pebbles. The three eggs measure 30.4 by 21.8; 28.9 by 21.8; 30.9 by 21.8. Their ground-color is very pale gray, almost white, carrying a considerable number of small lilac-colored spots. Small spots and irregularly shaped markings of dark brown are scattered over the entire surface, but are more numerous on the larger end.

"A resident species, usually met with about small fresh-water streams in the interior." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

96. ÆGIALITIS PERONI (Bonaparte).

MALAY SAND PLOVER.

Charadrius peroni Bonaparte, Compt. Rend. (1856), 43, 417. Ægialitis peroni Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 273; Hand-List (1899), 1, 154; Grant and Whitehead, Ibis (1898), 247, pl. 6, fig. 8 (egg); Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 25; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 23.

Bantayan (McGregor); Basilan (McGregor); Bohol (Everett); Calayan (McGregor); Cebu (McGregor); Fuga (McGregor); Leyte (Everett); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Whitehead, McGregor); Mindanao (Steere Exp., Everett); Mindoro (Porter); Negros (Steere Exp.); Palawan (Lempriere, Whitehead, Platen); Romblon (McGregor); Sibutu (Everett); Sibuyan (McGregor); Siquijor (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor). Greater Sunda Islands to Celebes.

"Adult male.--Above light ashy brown, darker on rump and central upper tail-coverts; sides of rump and lateral upper tail-coverts pure white; wing-coverts like the back, with a band of dark sepia-brown along marginal coverts; greater coverts broadly tipped with white; alula and primary-coverts dark brown, with white tips, the shafts conspicuously white; inner primaries white toward base of outer web; secondaries dark brown, white at ends of outer web, increasing in extent toward the innermost; long inner secondaries like the back; four center tail-feathers dark brown, next pair smoky brown, next pair white with a little smoky brown at the ends, remainder pure white; crown rufous, with a nuchal collar of pure white, this collar followed by a broad black band on hind neck overspreading mantle; forehead white, reaching to above eye and separated from rufous of crown by a tolerably broad band of black; a distinct loral streak of black; sides of face and ear-coverts with a black band along upper margin of the latter; cheeks and under surface pure white, with a large black patch on each side of fore neck; under wing-coverts and axillars white; quills below ashy gray. 'Bill black, orange at base; feet gray, claws black; iris warm chocolate-brown; orbital ring pure orange.' (Everett.) Length, about 150; culmen, 16; wing, 95; tail, 39; tarsus, 27; middle toe with claw, 20.

"Adult female.--Similar to the male, but without the black band across forehead; black on mantle and hind neck represented by dark brown mixed with rufous; black patch at the side of fore neck replaced by dark brown mixed with rufous, with a tinge of the latter color spreading across fore neck. 'Bill black, base yellowish; feet purplish gray; iris dark brown.' (Everett.) Length, 140; culmen, 16; wing, 102; tail, 38; tarsus, 27.

"In some specimens, apparently very old males, the black band is continued right across the fore neck.

"Young birds resemble the adults, but have no facial black markings or any black or rufous on the mantle or sides of the chest, the whole of the upper surface being uniform ashy brown, with broad sandy-buff margins." (Sharpe.)

This little plover differs from Ægialitis dubia and Æ. alexandrina in having a comparatively stout bill.

Whitehead took three eggs of the Malay sand-plover at Cape Engaño, Luzon, on May 26, 1895. They are described as follows: "Shape short ovate. Ground-color pale cream; the whole shell with small blotches, streaks, and zigzag pencillings of rich sepia and pale lavender. Measurements 30 mm. by 22 mm. The three eggs were deposited on the bare sand among sea-drift and only a few yards above high-water mark. The female was shot. On the same day young plovers nearly ready to fly were captured." (Grant and Whitehead.)

97. ÆGIALITIS ALEXANDRINA (Linnæus).

KENTISH PLOVER.

Charadrius alexandrinus Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10, (1758), 1, 150. Ægialitis alexandrina Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 275; Hand-List (1899), 1, 154; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 26; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 24.

Bohol (Everett, Steere Exp.); Calayan (McGregor); Cebu (McGregor); Cuyo (McGregor); Mindanao (Everett); Palawan (Whitehead, Platen, Everett, Steere Exp.); Panay (Steere Exp.); Siquijor (Steere Exp.); Ticao (McGregor). Europe and central Asia to China and Japan, in winter to Africa, Indian Peninsula, and Australia.

"Adult male in breeding plumage.--Above pale earthy brown, with faint remains of paler margins to the feathers; wing-coverts like back, marginal ones blackish brown, greater series darker brown with a narrow white edging to the tip; alula and primary-coverts dark sepia-brown, the latter fringed with white at the tip; quills sepia-brown, with white shafts to the primaries, which are pale brown on inner web; inner primaries for the most part white toward the base of outer web; secondaries dusky brown with white tips, inner ones also white along the margins of both webs, innermost long secondaries brown like back; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts dark sepia-brown, lateral ones white, forming a patch on each side; the four center tail-feathers dark sepia-brown, paler toward the base, and having white shafts to the center ones, three outer feathers white, next ones smoky brown, with white shafts; crown ashy brown, washed with light tawny-rufous, especially distinct toward nape; hind neck and sides of neck white, forming a collar; forehead and a distinct eyebrow white, with a broad black band separating white of forehead from brown of crown; eyelid and loral streak black; feathers below the eye and sides of face white, with a black patch on hinder ear-coverts; cheeks and under surface pure white, with a patch of black on each side of chest; under wing-coverts and axillars white; quills below light ashy like the lower primary-coverts. 'Bill black, with the base of lower mandible of a dusky flesh-color; tarsi dusky, toes darker, claws black; iris brown.' (Macgillivray.) Length, 165; culmen, 18; wing, 105; tail, 43; middle toe with claw, 18.

"Adult female.--Similar to the male, but with less rufous on the head, this being represented by a tinge over the eye and round the nape; black band on the fore part of crown absent; black patch on each side of the chest represented by a brown patch with a rufous tinge. Length, 165; culmen, 18; wing, 109; tail, 48; tarsus, 28.

"The Kentish plovers which attain their breeding plumage in the plains of India are certainly much brighter in color than any which are seen in Europe. The black forehead and patch at the side of the chest are also strongly developed. Occasionally a rufous tinge overshades the back.

"The adult bird in winter plumage differs from the summer plumage in the entire absence of bright rufous on the head, and the black markings on the face and sides of the breast are also not developed. The head is like the back, the forehead and eyebrow are white, the lores dusky, and there is always a more or less distinct white collar united to the two sides of the neck.

"Young birds in first winter plumage only differ from the adults in having the whole upper surface distinctly marked with pale edges to the feathers." (Sharpe.)

This plover appears to be a winter visitant to the Philippines and may be found in small flocks along the seashore wherever there are tide-flats. It differs from both Æ. dubia and peroni in being slightly larger and in having an incomplete band on the fore breast.

Subfamily HIMANTOPODINÆ.

Genus HIMANTOPUS Brisson, 1760.