the Trans-Vaal Territury. 299 



grass. The eggs of different individuals appear to vary much 

 in shading and blotching. 



52. (L. 54-2.) EupoDOTis ludwigi, Riipp. Ludwig^s Bustard. 

 I took the eggs of this Bustard from the top of a low stony 



range of hillocks. I happened to be at a farmstead about thirty 

 miles from Potchefstroom, when a young boer told me he had 

 found a Paauw's nest ; so I immediately started with him to the 

 spot, rather late in the afternoon; after a smart walk of about 

 five miles we came to the stony ridge; and there lay the two 

 eggs, quite warm, the old bird having evidently just left the 

 nest and crept away amongst the stones on our approach ; 

 they were laid on the bare ground, without any appearance of a 

 nest. We sat down to rest for a quarter of an hour or so, when 

 my Hottentot, whom I had taken with me, suddenly, but in a 

 whisper, said that he saw the bird, and pointed to a spot within 

 a few yards of us ; but I could see nothing; so I handed him my 

 gun, and he immediately killed the bird as she lay crouched 

 amongst the stones within ten yards of us, and would no doubt 

 there have lain until we left the place. 



53. (L. 551.) CuRSORius RUFUs, Gould. Burchell's Courser. 

 The bird sent, which proved to be a male, allowed itself to be 



caught on its nest by a lad from Potchefstroom ; the eggs, two 

 in number, were placed on the bare ground, in a gravelly spot, 

 and were much incubated. 



[On reexamining the examples formerly recorded by me from 

 Natal (Ibis, 1860, p. 217) under the above name, J find that 

 they do not belong to this species, but to its near ally C. sene- 

 galensis, Licht. I have not yet seen C. 7'ufus from Natal or 

 C. senegalensis from the Trans-Vaal. — J. 11. G.] 



54. (L. 558.) HoPLOPTERUs armatus, Jard. & Selby. Black- 

 and-white Spurwing Plover. 



The eggs of this Plover are generally from two to four in 

 number ; the nest is simply a slight excavation on the bare open 

 ground, with a thin layer of grass-roots, and is generally placed 

 from fifty to a hundred yards from the edge of some swamp. 



The birds biecd in August and September, and are at this 

 time exceedingly bold, darting at the heads of any cattle that 



