237 



BLACK-BODIED LAPWINO ; 



Vanellus melasomtis, SWAINS. 

 PLATE XXVI. 



Head above, body beneath, and front of the throat and breast, 

 black ; sides of the neck, breast, and collar round the neck., 

 white ; tail black ; the base and covers white ; feet three- 

 toed. 



Charadrius spinosus, Auctorum, Syst. Avium, No. 10. Pluvier 

 arme' du Senegal, PL Enl. 801. (bad) Edwards, pi. 280. 



fig. 2. 



As a preliminary step to the arrangement of this 

 family, we propose to restrict the genus Charadrius 

 to those birds only whose wings are so much 

 pointed that the first quill is always the longest, 

 and from which the others gradually but rapidly 

 diminish in length; this structure we consider as 

 pre-eminently typical. All other species or forms 

 not possessing it, we shall arrange at present under 

 Vanellus; the sub-genera of which, however, we 

 shall refrain from defining until we have discovered 

 their circular succession, and consequently their true 

 characters. 



The present species, heretofore arranged in the 

 genus Charadrius^ is separated from the types of that 

 group by having the shoulders armed with a strong 

 spur or spine, and by the different form of its wings ; 

 the fourth quill of which is as long as the first. 



