CHARADRIAl^E. 298 



with a broad black bar across the apical half ; chin white ; 

 throat black ; neck streaked with black-brown ; breast and 

 belly, dove-colour ; flanks and thighs, dark grey-brown ; 

 vent white; a yellow wattle tinged with orange-red extends 

 upwards and downwards from before the eye ; bill greenish- 

 yellow, tipped with black ; legs greenish-yellow ; wing > 

 armed with a spur. Length, 13" 6'" ; wing, 9" ; tail, 4". 



According to Dr. Smith, this Plover is an inhabitant of the South- 

 East Coast, and does not extend its range west of Natal, or to the 

 southern extremity of the continent. It has never appeared in any 

 collection examined by me, and must be very rare. 



i Genus HOPLOPTERTJS, Pr. Bonaparte. 

 Bill moderate and slender, with the basal portion of the 

 culrnen depressed, and the tip vaulted, the sides compressed 

 and grooved ; the nostrils lateral, basal, and placed in the 

 upper lateral groove, which extends for two-thirds the length, 

 of the bill, with the opening linear ; wings long and pointed, 

 with the first quill nearly as long as the second and third, 

 which are equal and longest ; tail moderate, broad, and even ; 

 tarsi much longer than the middle toe, and covered in front 

 with larger scales, which are more or less divided in the 

 middle ; toes three, more or less long and slender, with the 

 outer toe longer than the inner, the hind toe wanting : the 

 claws small, compressed, and slightly curved. The front of 

 the head sometimes more or less lobed ; and the wings some- 

 times armed with an acute spine or blunt tubercle. 



558. HoplOpterUS ArmatUS, Jardine and Selby ; 

 Hoplopterus Speciosus, Wagler ; Spur-winged Plover. 

 GENERAL colour, black ; top of head, and forehead, patch at 

 back of neck, lower front of belly, vent, and basal two- thirds 

 of tail, white ; lesser wing-feathers, grey ; legs and ^bill 

 black ; wing armed with a sharp spur. Length, 12" ; wing, 

 8" T ; tail, 4" 6'". 



Forwarded in some abundance from Cplesberg by Mr. David Arnot, 

 who describes their habits as similar to those of H. Coronate. It 

 occurred constantly in all the collections formed in the Interior by my 

 several contributors. 



559. Hoplopterus Albiceps. (Temm.) PL Col. 



526 ; Lobivanellus Albiceps, Gould ; Sarciophorus 

 Albiceps, Fras. Zool. Typ., PL 64 ; Strickland's Pro- 

 ceed. Zool. Soc., 1 8 4 1 , p. 3 3 ; Hartlb. Orn. W. Af , p. 214. 

 REAP, throat, middle of the wing, rump, belly, and vent, 

 white ; sides of head and neck, cinereous-purple ; back 

 brownish ; scapulars, three external feathers, and apical half 



