178 ASIATIC DOTTEBEL. 



forestalled me with Mr. Schluter, of Halle, in the matter of the egg 

 of this bird. Mr. Dresser thus describes the e^^, which, however, is 

 not, as he suggests, unknown to science, inasmuch as Von Heuglin 

 informed me two years ago that a specimen had passed through his 

 hands. 



"This eg^," says Mr. Dresser, "which I now exhibit somewhat 

 resembles those of Eudromias morinellus, but is darker and rather more 

 green in tinge of ground colour than the general run of those eggs, 

 beside being much less spotted and more oval in shape. It is, as 

 will be seen, warm buff, with the faintest greenish tinge, and sparingly 

 spotted with black, the markings being comparatively small, and not 

 large blotches as in those of E. morinelliis. In size it measures 1.25 

 by 1.075 inches, and is oval in shape, very slightly tapering towards 

 one end. It is especially interesting to obtain not only the egg but 

 the bird itself from the locality where it was originally described.^' 



Mr. Dresser says that his specimens of the bird prove Mr. Harting's 

 description and figure to be correct, in contradiction to the doubt 

 thrown on the matter by Dr. Otto Finsch (Ibis, 1872, p. 144), who 

 considered that Mr. Harting's E. asiaticus should stand as (7, damarensis, 

 a bird originally described by Strickland in the "Contributions to 

 Ornithology," and that Mr. Harting's E. verediis is the Charadrius 

 asiaticus of Pallas, a conclusion in which I cannot now concur. 



Mr. Dresser doubts whether the bird is correctly included in the 

 genus Eudromias, because the sexes do not differ in j)lumage; but, as 

 Mr. Harting says, the difference observable in the sexes of Eudromias 

 is only a difference of intensity of colour, and not of the colour itself, 

 or the disposition of it. The similarity of the eggs, also, is, I think, 

 an additional proof that Mr. Harting is right. I therefore do not 

 change the designation which he has given to this species. 



It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the kindness of Mr. 

 Dresser in entrusting me with his rare and almost unique egg of this 

 bird for illustration; and ornithologists I feel sure will join in this 

 vote of thanks. 



This bird will be found figured by Mr. Harting in the "Ibis," 

 1870, plate v. 



