HOUW HOEK AND STANFORD I I I 



patch of dark-coloured stones. I marked the spot, and 

 walked up to this place, and after searching for a minute 

 or two we found two eggs of the usual pyriform shape, 

 being marked so thickly as to be almost black ; they 

 looked as though they had been scored all over with 

 charcoal, the larger ends of the eggs having distinct 

 zones round them. The ground underneath these eggs 

 was paved with very minute flat black stones. This 

 bird, according to Seebohm's work on the distribution 

 of the CharadrUcUe^ is one of three species of Three- 

 collared Plovers, the other two kinds inhabiting Mada- 

 gascar and West Africa respectively, but the bird in 

 question may be distinguished from either of these by 

 the white patch on its forehead. We saw little of these 

 birds afterwards, though they are stated to be common 

 throughout the Colony, but I fancy they are more of an 

 inland species, and do not much frequent the sea shore. 

 They appeared to have more of the nervous vibration 

 of a Sandpiper than some of the South African Plovers 

 that we came across. 



Near to the place where we found the Three-collared 

 Sand-plover's nest was a small lake, in which were an 

 immense number of frogs. Over this lake we one day 

 saw a bird that puzzled us for the time being. This 

 was the Great African Kingfisher, which was hovering 

 above the water with its body in an almost vertical 

 position, its long beak pointing downwards ; when it 

 dived it immersed itself momentarily in the water, and 

 then flew to a tree which, with several others, bordered 

 one end of the lake. There were two birds in these 

 trees, which flew away at our approach, exhibiting a 

 very powerful and sustained flight, not unlike that of a 



