340 NATURAL HISTORY OF AFRICA. 



It sometimes remained in the room for half an hour after 

 dinner, turning its head alternately from side to side, with 

 an appearance of unusual gravity, as if listening to the 

 conversation. It one day swallowed a cat. Is this the 

 Ardea dubia of Gmelin 1 



Let us here insert the name of the umber {Scopus urn- 

 hrctta, Linn.), an African species, — the only one of its 

 genus, of the manners of which we are still entirely ig- 

 norant. 



Of the snipe and woodcock kind several species inhabit 

 Africa. Of these we shall mention no more than the Cape 

 snipe {Rhynchia Africana of Lesson), which occurs speci- 

 fically the same, or at least apparently identical, in Bengal. 



Of the sandpiper tribe {Pelulna, Cuvier) a few occur along 

 the African shores, and a new species of phalarope (Ph. 

 Fimhriatus) has been recently described by M. Temminck 

 as native to Senegal. 



The genus Curscrrius is found in all the quarters of the 

 globe, with the exception of America. The double-collared 

 courier (C Bicinctus) inhabits the interior of Southern Af- 

 rica; Temminck's courier (C Temminckii, Swainson) is 

 found at Sierra Leone ; and the violet-winged courier (C 

 chalcopterus, Temm.) comes from Senegal. 



The plover family are numerous in almost all parts of 

 the world. Africa possesses nearly a dozen species, of 

 which we shall mention merely the crowned plover ( Chara- 

 drius coronatus), one of the largest of the genus, which oc- 

 curs at the Cape of Good Hope. 



Of the Palmipedes, or web-footed water-fowl, we know 

 of no great number peculiar to Africa. These birds are of 

 wandering habits, and being possessed, in addition to their 

 great power of wing, of the faculty of resting on the water, 

 we can place no limits to the extent of their migratory 

 movements. They thus become more cosmopolite than 

 many of the other tribes, and are therefore less entitled to 

 our attention during an exposition of the peculiar and more 

 characteristic features of a particular continent. 



The first of this order which we shall name is the Cape 

 penguin {Spheniscus Capcnsis). This bird is found on 

 several of the southern portions of our globe, especially at 

 the Cape and the Malouin Islands. It lives in imme»se 



