EGYPTIAN PLOVEB. 



171 



GRALLATOEES. 



Famihj CHARADRIID^. f Bonaparte. J 



Genus Pluvianus. f Vieillot.J 



Getieric Characters. — Bill thick at base, compressed towards the middle, 

 pointed, superior mandible slightly arched, inferior straight; nostrils oblong, 

 covered with a membrane. Three slender toes, directed forward, united 

 at their base by a small membrane. No hind toe. The first quill feather 

 the longest of all. The middle claw with the inner edge dilated and finely 

 serrated. — Vieillot. 



EGYPTIAN PLOVER. 



Pluvianus mgyptius. 



Charadrius CEgyptius, 



" melanocephalus, 



" c/ilorocep/ialus, 



Pluvianus CBgyptius, 

 (< << 



Cursor charadrioTdes, 

 Ammoptila charadrioides, 



Cheilodromas melanocephalus, 

 Pluvian melanocephale, 



Hasselquist; Reise, 311, (1752.) 

 LiNN^us; Syst. Nat., i., p. 254, (1766.) 

 Gmelin; Syst. Nat., i., p. 692, (1788.) 

 Vieillot; Gal. Ois., pi. 233. 

 Hartlaub; Ornith. West Africas, p. 209. 

 Gray; Hand List, No. 10035. 

 Wagler; Syst. Av., No. 6, (1827.) 

 Swainson; Classification of Birds, 



p. 364, (1837.) 

 Ruppell; Mus. Senkenb,, ii., p. 208. 

 Of the French. 



Specific Characters. — Forehead, crown, nape, centre of back, and pectoral 

 band black; superciliary streak and chin v/hite ; breast, flanks, and under 

 tail coverts pale buffy white. Primaries black, each feather medially and 

 broadly marked on both webs with white; secondaries white, Avith the 

 apex black; scapulars nearly as long as the longest primary. Length 

 from tip of bill to end of tail nine inches ; wing five inches and three 

 fifths; tail two inches and seven tenths. Bill from forehead three fifths, 

 from rictus four fifths of an inch ; tarsus one inch and three fifths ; middle 

 toe and claw one inch. 



