166 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



This plover is a denizen of the steppe country and the more open 

 parts of the Acacia parklands. It is widely distributed throughout 

 its range and, while common, is seen chiefly in pairs or family groups, 

 seldom in large flocks. 



Little is known of the breeding habits of this race. Erlanger '^ 

 found an egg on March 20 at Huluko in Arussi-Gallaland. 



Mearns observed this race of the crowned plover at the following 

 localities: Abaya Lakes, March 18-20, 18 birds; Anole, May 18, 5 

 seen; Kormali, May 19, 5 birds; Tertale, June 7-12, 12 noted; El Ade, 

 June 12-14, 8 seen ; Mar Mora, June 14, 4 ; Turturo, June 15, 4 seen ; 

 Yebo, June 20, 12 birds; Karsa Barecha, June 21, 60 birds; Malata, 

 June 22, 50 birds noted, 



STEPHANIBYX LUGUBRIS (Lesson) . 



Charadrius luguhris Lesson, Diet. Sci. Nat. (ed. Leviault), vol. 43, p. 36, 

 1826 : BO locality : Senegal ajjud Grant, Ibis, 1915, p. 58. 



Specmiens collected: 



Female, between Thika and Athi Rivers, Kenya Colony, August 29, 

 1912. 



Soft parts: Iris yellow; bill, legs, feet, and claws purplish black. 



Sclater '^^ gives the range of this bird in eastern Africa as extend- 

 ing north to Zanzibar. It occurs considerably further to the north 

 however. Van Someren ''^ records it from Lamu on the Kenya coast 

 and from Nambeziwa, Uganda ; while Gjddenstolpe ''^ lists specimens 

 (collected by Arrhenius) from the southern shores of Lake Edward. 

 In the Museum of Comparative Zoology there is a specimen from 

 Hima, Toro, western Uganda. The bird from the Thika River listed 

 above is the first published record for the inland districts of Kenya 

 Colony, but is not a surprising one, as it is geographically intermedi- 

 ate between the coastal record (Lamu) and those from Uganda. I 

 know of one other similar record, a male from Telek River, Sotik 

 district, Kenya Colony, now in the United States National Museum. 



Van Someren "^^ writes that his coastal specimens have narrower 

 black bands separating the gray breast from the white abdomen than 

 do his Uganda examples. I have seen no birds from the coast itself, 

 but one of two individuals from Morogoro, Tanganyika Territory, 

 has the band as wide and well developed as in Mearns' specimen and 

 in another from western Uganda (Toro). 



If further material bears out Van Someren's observation, the nar- 

 row-banded form will probably be found to have a very limited 

 range in an east-west direction, and may be confined to the northern 

 part of its coastal distribution. 



•«Journ. f. Oruith., 1905, pp. 65-66. 



" Syst. Avium Etbiop., 1924, p. 123. 



''s Nov. Zool., vol. 29, 1922, p. 15. 



™ Kungl. Sv. Vet. Akad. Hanillgr., 1924, p. 301. 



