264 BIRDS OF THE SEA AND COAST 



has the neck of a speckly nature, is larger (length, 27 to 30 

 inches), and has only twelve tail feathers. It is much 

 scarcer than the above species, but like it, breeds on the 

 Guano Islands off the South African coast. The eggs resemble 

 those of the Trek Duiker, but the nest is different, being 

 composed of seaweed. 



Of the Gannets {Family Sulidce) the Cape Gannet or 

 Malagas (Sula capensis) is also well known on the coast. 

 It is a white bird with the tail and portion of the wings 

 dark brown. The naked skin round the eye, and about 

 six inches down the throat, is black. Length, about three 

 feet. The young bird is dark brown, speckled with white. 

 It breeds on the Guano Islands off the coast already men- 

 tioned, and together with the Cape Cormorant supplies most 

 of the guano collected annually. It lays a single egg in a 

 hollow in the ground or in a depression scratched in the layer 

 of manure. 



ORDER LIMICOL^l 



Many of the Plovers and Sandpipers are found along 

 the coast, as well as on the inland rivers and lakes. Some 

 of them have already been dealt with. Suffice it for us now 

 to refer to a few of the commoner littoral species. 



The White-fronted Sand Plover (Charadrius mar- 

 ginatus) is of a pale ashy-grey colour above, and white 

 below. In the breeding plumage it has a black band across 

 the forehead, and a huffy tinge on the breast. Length, 

 6| inches. It is essentially a shore bird, and is a common 

 resident. Like the Three-collared Sand Plover, it lays two 

 blotched and marbled eggs in a depression in the mud or 

 sand. 



The Black Oyster Catcher (Hcematopus moquini) is quite 

 black with a red bill and legs. Length, 21 inches. It is 



