5. RHINOPTILUS. 45 



black on the chest ; remainder of undor surface of body sandy buff, 

 paler and more isabelline on the abdomen ; under wing-coverts and 

 axillaries blackish, broadly tipped with sandy buff, the greater 

 coverts blackish, tipped with white ; axillaries like the breast ; quills 

 below resembling the upper surface : " bill black ; tarsi and toes 

 white ; iris dark hazel " ( T. Ayres). Total length 8 inches, culmen 

 0*6, wing 6"1, tail 2-35, tarsus 2%i. 



Adult female. Similar to the male in colour. Total length 

 8 inches, culmen OG5, wing 6 - 15, tail 2-45, tarsus 1 # 95. 



The specimens from Great Namaqua-land in the Seebohm col- 

 lection are paler and more sandy-coloured than those from the 

 south-eastern part of Africa. The example from Ondonga mentioned 

 by Mr. Seebohm (Geogr. Distr. Charadr. p. 243) is still paler, but 

 the light colour is evidently due to bleaching in a desert land, for 

 the new feathers which the bird is acquiring are not much paler 

 than the ordinary rufous form of the species. Mr. Seebohm has 

 called this western form Cursorius bieinctus bisignatus, but as the 

 tarsus measures 2 - 05-2 - 15 inches, it cannot be of this race (vide 

 infra). A freshly moulted specimen from ]\ T am aqua-land (June) 

 can scarcely be distinguished from the eastern specimens, and there- 

 fore I cannot regard the Narnaqua and Damara birds as constituting 

 more than a pale race, which, moreover, it is not necessary to 

 name. The wing in the series of R. bieinctus varies from 5-7 to 

 6 # 15 inches, and it will thus be seen that it is always a larger bird 

 than li. bisignatus. 



Hah. South Africa, from the Cape Colony to Mashona, and to 

 Damara-laud and Ovampo on the west. 



a-e. $ 2 a( b sk« Beaufort, Karoo, S. Africa Seebohm Coll. 



{E. L. La yard), 



f, g. 3 $ ad. st. S. Africa. Sir A. Smith [C.]. 



h, i. <$ $ ad. sk. Hope Town, Griqualand, May R. B. Sharpe, Esq. 



(T. C. Atmore). [P.]. 



k. Ad. sk. Sandy River, Orange Free F. A. Barratt, Esq. 



State. [P.]. 



I. $ ad. sk. Transvaal (T. Ayres). Gurney Coll. 



m. <$ ad. sk. Hountop River, Great Na- Tweeddale Coll. 



maqua-land, June 3 (C. J. 



Andersson). 



n. Ad. sk. Great Namaqua-land fC. Seebohm Coll. 



J. A.). 



o. 2 ad.sk. Otjimbinque, Damara-land, Seebohm Coll. 



Feb. 15 (G J. A.). 



2. Rhinoptilus bisignatus. (Plate I.) 



Cursorius bisignatus, Ilartl. P. Z. S. I860, p. 87 (Benguela) ; Gray, 

 Hand-l. B. iii. p. 19, no. 10042 (1871) ; Bocage, Orn. Angola, 

 p. 422 (1881) ; Sharpe, ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. p. 655 (1884). 



Cursorius gracilis, Fischer fy Reichen. J.f. O. 1884, p. 178 (Masai- 

 land); Fischer, Zeitschr. gcs. Orn. i. p. 390(1884: Little Aruscha; 

 Donjo Ngai; ParS; Rongo River); id. J. f. O. 1885, p. 115; 



