Charadrius dubius Scopoli, Del Flor. et Faun. Insubr. (1786),
2, 93.
Ægialitis dubia Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 263;
Hand-List (1899), 1, 154; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1898),
4, 241, fig. 54 (head); Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 25;
McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 23.
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.)