254 Mr. J. H. Gurney's Notes on 



Linnaeus to the Ostrich of Syria and Arabia, with which the 

 Ostrich of North Africa is supposed to be identical; but I 

 believe that the South-African Ostrich has as yet received no 

 specific name ; and as this is inconvenient, I would suggest that 

 it should bear that of " australis," which I have here applied 

 to it. 



The distinction between the Ostriches of North and South 

 Africa, and also between the eggs of the two, has been pointed 

 out by Mr. P. L. Sclater in his paper on the Struthious birds 

 in the Zoological Gardens (Trans. Zool. Soc. iv. p. 354), to 

 which I refer my readers for further information on this subject. 



550. (Edicnemus maculosus, Temm. Spotted Thicknee. 



CEdicnemus senegalensis. Swains. Senegal Thicknee. 



Mr. Layard, though he refers to the latter of these two 

 birds (p. 288, note), does not give it a place in his Catalogue; 

 it is nevertheless, like its congener, a regular migrant to the 

 colony of Natal, where, according to the observations of Mr. 

 Ayres (Ibis, 1860, p. 217, and 1865, p. 270), both species 

 appear on the coast in the mouth of June. I am also in- 

 formed by this gentleman that he has met with (E. maculosus 

 in the Transvaal. 



Some remarks on the special affinity of (E. senegalensis to 

 the genus jEsacus will be found in the passage last referred to. 



555. Gl areola nordmanni, Fischer. Black-winged Pra- 

 tincole. (Plate VIII.) 



Under the head of Ciconia alba (p. 314) Mr. Layard quotes 

 a communication from Mrs. Barber, in which that lady refers to 

 the breeding-places of the " Small Locust-bird," the name given, 

 Mr. Layard tells us, by the colonists to this species. It is there- 

 fore to be hoped that he will be able to obtain from his corre- 

 spondent some further particulars as to its nidification, and will 

 favour the readers of ' The Ibis' with such information as he 

 may acquire on the subject. 



As this species has not hitherto been satisfactorily figured *, 



* [The figures illustrating the original description of this bird (Bull. 

 Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscou, xv. (1842) tab. ii.) only show the more impor- 

 tant details. M. Gerbe (Orn. Eur. ii. p. 112) thinks it may be represented 



