"Young.--Two specimens from the Duke of York Island and Guadaleanar are apparently immature, having the feathers of the upper surface tipped with sandy buff, especially on the wing-coverts, where the white band on the median series is not so defined as in the adults, but showing a broader band of brown-tipped feathers below. There is, however, a second white band formed by the white tips to the greater wing-coverts, and it is somewhat curious that this should be a sign of immaturity." (Sharpe.)
The stone plover is remarkable for its large and powerful bill. It is rare in the Philippine Islands and so far as observed it is found on sea-beaches where it subsists upon sand-crabs.
Very large; bill moderate, straight, and somewhat compressed, rather blunt; nostrils large, elongated, and pervious, situated half way between tip and base of bill; neck very long, its upper part and the head clothed with few, hair-like feathers; wing rounded; secondaries longer than primaries; tail short and soft; legs very long; toes stout; hind toe short and elevated.
Characters same as those given for the Order.
Characters same as those given for the Order.
Antigone antigone (not Ardea antigone Linnæus) Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 264. Antigone sharpii Blanford, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club (1895), 5, 6. Antigone sharpei Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 178; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 94; McGregor, Bull. Philippine Mus. (1904), 4, 11, pl. 2; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 31.
Luzon (McGregor, Worcester). Burma, Cochin China, and Malay Peninsula.
Adult.--Nearly uniform pearl-gray, lighter on neck; head and neck nearly naked to 100 mm. or more below anterior border of ear-coverts; a few gray feathers on chin and ear-coverts; a few scattered black hair-like feathers on upper throat and its sides.
An adult female taken in Nueva Ecija Province, Luzon, in September, yields the following data: Legs rose-pink, brown along the tarsi; nails blackish; most of bill and forehead pale dirty green; tip of bill gray; iris yellow; papillose parts of head and neck red, darker behind the ear-coverts. Weight, 5 kilos. Length, 1,270; extent, 2,200; wing, 565; tail, 220; culmen from base, 178; bill from front margin of nostril, 103; tarsus, 275; middle toe with claw, 117; hind toe with claw, 24. Another specimen from northern Luzon measures; culmen from base, 160; bill from nostril, 92; tarsus, 280; middle toe with claw, 107.