from the Niger Region. 561 



yEgialites tricollaris, Hartl. (nee Vieill.) Orn. W.Afr. 

 p. 216. 



jEgialitis indicus, Shelley & Buckley, Ibis, 1872, p. 293. 



a. ? , Shonga, November : iris grey brown ; a broad 

 scarlet eyelid ; bill black, with the base pink ; legs very pale 

 pink. 



Mr. Harting has examined the type of Mr. Hodgson's 

 Charadrius indicus, which I presume to be the true C. indicus, 

 Lath., and assures me it belongs to the present species. As 

 this bird is West-African, and apparently confined to that 

 subregion, the name indicus is not applicable, so I propose to 

 call it yEgia/ifis forbesi, as an appropriate acknowledgment 

 to the memory of the late Mr. W. A. Forbes. 



I shall give a comparative description of this species from 

 his specimen and two in my own collection from the Gold 

 Coast, with the South- African ^. tricollaris, its nearest ally. 

 JE. forbesi differs from JE. tricollaris as follows : — It is 

 larger ; forehead ashy brown, slightly paler than the crown ; 

 a brownish-buff eyebrow extends backwards from over the eye 

 round the nape ; the two pairs of outer tail-feathers are white, 

 the outer pair with three or four imperfect brownish-black 

 bars, the next pair with four or five somewhat similar bars ; 

 remainder of the head and neck ashy brown, fading almost 

 into white on the chin and centre of the upper throat, and 

 into dark brown towards the crop ; beneath this is a white 

 collar, followed by a broader dark brown one across the upper 

 chest. Total length 8*2 inches, culmen 0-7, wing 5, tail 3, 

 tarsus 1"25. 



yE. tricollaris has a broad white forehead connected with a 

 clear white eyebrow, which extends backwards round the 

 nape ; the underparts are white, with two rather sharply de- 

 fined black collars, the front one very narrow ; the two outer 

 pairs of tail-feathers are white, with a single subterminal 

 blackish-brown bar. The eyelids are scarlet, and not so 

 thick ; bill blackish, with the base of the lower mandible deep 

 rose-red ; legs fleshy brown. Total length 6*5 inches, culmen 

 0-6, wing 4-3, tail 2-5, tarsus 0-95. 



2q2 



