266 Mr. J. E. Harting on rare 



lities to those of jE. cantianus and JE. minor, and generally 

 met with in flocks." Heuglin speaks of it as " rather a com- 

 mon resident bird [Standvogel] throughout the whole of 

 the Nile region." Its numbers, however, appear to vary- 

 considerably in the same locality in different years ; for in 

 1870 Capt. Shelley only met with it once near Golosaneh, 

 although he was then anxious to procure some specimens, 

 while in 1868 and 1871 it was one of the most abundant of 

 the small Plovers. 



It will thus be seen that it makes the whole tour of Africa, 

 but, so far as we know at present, does not travel beyond these 

 limits, not even to Madagascar. According to Heuglin it lives 

 singly and in small flocks, always near water, more frequently 

 near canals and lakes than near the Nile proper. It is on 

 this account, perhaps, being out of the beaten tract, that it 

 has been less frequently observed by travellers on the Nile. 

 In habits and mode of life it is said not to differ from the 

 common Ringed Plover {JE. hiaticula) . Its food consists of 

 larvae, worms, flies, and small beetles living in the sand. The 

 eggs, of which I have specimens procured in South Africa by 

 my friend Mr. Layard, are most like the eggs of JE. tricollaris 

 and M. nigrifrons (Australia) . They are a trifle smaller than 

 those of the well-known JE. cantianus, less pyriform in shape, 

 and with a smoother and therefore more glossy shell. In 

 colour, though not in shape and size, they remind one of the 

 e«-gs of Cursorius gallicus, being of a pale clay-colour closely 

 freckled over with minute specks and scratches of umber- 

 brown. 



iEGiALiTis sanct^e-helenjE. (Plate IX.) 



Charadrius pecuarius, Layard, Ibis, 1867, p. 251 ; Birds S. 

 Afr.p. 297 (1867) ; Newton, Ibis, 1867, p .251, note; Baker, 

 Zoologist, 1868, p. 1475 ; Mellis, Ibis, 1870, p. 104. 



The " Wire-bird " of the natives. 



Descr. Similis JE. vario (seu pecuario) sed conspicue major; 

 rostro et tarsis longioribus ; subtus albidior : scapis pri- 

 mariorum brunneis, scapo primarii primi tantum albo, 

 praecipue distinguendus. Iride fusca ; rostro pedibusque 

 nigerrimis. 



