“The winter plumage and young livery of the western and eastern forms of O. mongolus are, as might have been expected, very difficult to distinguish, but the western form seems always to have a longer tarsus (about 32 mm.), whereas the eastern form has the tarsus about 28 mm.” (Sharpe.)
94. OCHTHODROMUS VEREDUS (Gould).
EASTERN DOTTEREL.
- Charadrius veredus Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1848), 38.
- Ochthodromus veredus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 232; Hand-List (1899), 1, 153; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 23.
Palawan (Platen, Bourns & Worcester, White). Mongolia and China, in winter to the Moluccas and Australia.
“Adult in summer plumage.—Similar to O. geoffroyi, but with a longer and more slender bill, and distinguished by its smoky brown axillars, under wing-coverts, and quill-linings. Upper parts uniform brown, with slightly indicated rufous edgings to many of the feathers; alula, primary-coverts, and quills dark brown, first primary only having a white shaft, and no white present on inner webs of quills; secondaries uniform dark brown, with an obsolete white fringe to the tips; innermost secondaries like back; tail-feathers brown, with white tips and a subterminal shade of darker brown, outer feather white along outer web; crown brown like back, slightly washed with rufous, as also the hind neck, where, however, there is no distinct collar as in O. geoffroyi; forehead white to middle of eye; eyebrow, sides of face, and throat white; lower throat, fore neck, and chest bright chestnut, extending down the sides of the upper breast and followed by a horseshoe mark of black; breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts pure white; under wing-coverts and axillars dark smoky brown, with ashy whitish tips; quill-lining also dark smoky brown. ‘Bill deep olive-brown, blacker on the terminal portion; feet light brownish flesh-color; toes washed with gray, blackish on joints; claws black; eyelids grayish black.’ (Swinhoe.) Length, 215; culmen, 25; wing, 165; tail, 61; tarsus, 44.
“Adult in winter plumage.—Differs from the summer plumage in wanting the rufous chest-band. Above dark brown, including crown; forehead and eyebrow isabelline white, hinder part of the latter shaded with sandy buff, which color also pervades the sides of face and of neck, and forms a faint collar round hind neck; throat isabelline white; lower throat, fore neck, and chest pale brown; remainder of under surface white; under wing-coverts, axillars, and quill-lining smoky brown.” (Sharpe.)
Genus ÆGIALITIS Boie, 1822.
This genus includes a number of small plovers not differing greatly from Charadrius except in size and colors; the plumage is never spotted and, with the exception of a more or less complete dusky band across the chest, the lower parts are pure white.