10 Dr. R. 13. Sliarpe on Birds 



Iris yellow, with an orange ring round the eye ; base of 

 lower mandible pale yellow ; feet greyish yellow. 



The characters by which 0. bifrontatus is said to be 

 distinguishable seem to me of doubtful value, and some of 

 them are of no account. A young bird, which had already 

 nearly completed its moult on February 10th, still retained 

 a trace of sandy margins to some of the wing-feathers and 

 had a distinctly greyish throat, so that the grey throat may 

 be a sign of immaturity, though there is no appearance of 

 grey on the forehead. The connexion of the white eye- 

 brow with the forehead depends mostly on the preparation of 

 the skin, and in the Deelfontein series the two are joined 

 together, so that this character is not specific. 



[Very common at all the dams and stagnant pools, being 

 found all the year round. It was always solitary or in pairs, 

 never in flocks, and was very tame, its habits being similar 

 to those of our Ringed Plover. The nest was a hollow 

 scraped in pebbly ground, with a few bits of coarse grass and 

 pieces of stick, and was generally placed within a few feet of 

 the water. Eggs 1-3, measuring : axis 1*2, diam. 085 inch.] 



12. .Egialitis pecuaria. 



JEyialitis varia (nee Linn.) ; Sliarpe, ed. Layard, p. 661 

 (1884). 



JEgialitis pecuaria Sliarpe, Cat. B. xxiv. p. 297 (1896) ; 

 id. Hand-1. B. i. p. 155 (1899). 



Charadrius varius Reichenow (nee Linu.), Yog. Afrikas, 

 i. p. 171 (1900). 



a, b. 6 . Deelfontein. March 18, 1902. 



[This bird was not common with us. Two were seen in 

 March at Erasmus' Dam, about five miles from Deelfontein. 

 Their habits were similar to those of the British Ringed 

 Plover.] 



13. RECURVI ROSTRA AVOCETTA. 



Recurvirostra avocetta L. ; Sliarpe, ed. Layard, p. 673 

 (1881) ; id. Cat. B. xxiv. p. 326 (1896) ; id. Hand-1. B. i. 

 p. 157 (1899) ; Reichenow, t. c. p. 206 (1900). 



a, b. 6 . Deelfontein, Feb. 15, 1902. Iris reddish orange; 

 bill black ; feet, toes, and webs pale slate-coloured. 



