260 Mr. J. E. Harting on rare 



XXX. — On rare or little-known Limicolse. 

 By James Edmund Harting, F.L.S., F.Z.S. 



(Plates VIII., IX.) 

 [Continued from 'The Ibis/ 1870, p. 392.] 



It frequently happens that a general description of form and 

 colour intended to indicate a particular species applies so well 

 to another for which it was not intended, that unless mea- 

 surements are added, or some marked specific character 

 pointed out, it is impossible to discriminate the two without 

 reference to the type or types which furnished the description. 



A case in point is afforded by the Charadrius pecuarius of 

 Temminck. 



When that eminent ornithologist described and figured 

 (PL Col. 183) a little Plover from the Cape of Good Hope, 

 he doubtless imagined that his plate would convey to the eyes 

 of his readers what he might have failed to make clear by his 

 text ; but unfortunately there are two species to which, in the 

 absence of all measurements, the description and plate will 

 equally well apply. Not unnaturally therefore they have 

 been applied by different naturalists to different birds, some 

 supposing that Temminck intended to refer to the smaller 

 of the two species, sometimes known as Ch. kittlitzi, which 

 is generally distributed throughout the continent of Africa, 

 and does not visit St. Helena, others maintaining that the de- 

 scription and plate sufficiently indicate the larger bird, which, 

 strange to say, is exclusively confined to that remote island. 



To clear up the difficulty is the object of the present paper ; 

 and, to plunge in medias res, I will first state the conclusions 

 at which I have arrived, and then adduce the reasons which 

 have led me to such conclusions. 



The bird upon which Temminck bestowed the specific name 

 pecuarius is the smaller of the two allied species, which in- 

 habits Africa generally, but is not found in St. Helena. An 

 older name for it is Charadrius varius, Vieillot. 



The St. -Helena bird, popularly known in the island as the 

 " Wire-bird/' is at present without a scientific appellation; and 

 I propose therefore to name it JEgialitis sancta-helena. 



