VANELLUS. 



221 



VANELLUS SPECIOSUS. 



BLACK-BACKED LAPWING. 



Vanellus halluce nullo : calcaribus magnis : tarso rostroque nigris : tectricibus omnibus cinereis. Diagnosis. 



No local races of this species are known. 



Variations. 



Charadrius speciosus, Wagler, his, 1829^ p. 649. 



Pluvianus armatus, Jar dine 3f Selby, III. Orn. i. pi. 54 (1835). 



Charadrius albiceps, Temminck, PL Col. no. 526 (1832). 



Hoplopterus speciosus {Waaler), ") 



XT 1 X X /T J 8 cr7AN \ Gray, Genera of Birds, m. ^.^43,(18^7). 



Hoplopterus armatus (/ara. ^ >5e%)j J ^ j > l \ i 



Vanellus speciosus [Wagler), Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Cursores, p. 62 (1865). 



S3'nonymy. 



Plates.— Jard. & Selby, 111. Orn. i. pi. 54 ; Temra. PI. Col. no. 526. 



Habits. — Sharpe, Layard's Birds S. Africa, p. 667. 



Eggs. — Described in Andersson's Birds of Damara-Land, p. 268. 



Literature. 



The Black-backed Lapwing is the only species of the genus which has, when adult, Specific 

 both a black mantle and a black throat. A more complicated diagnosis is lar^e spurs, no ''"^"■^''^^^'s- 

 hind toe, black legs and bill, wing-coverts bluish grey without white tips. It is doubtful 

 whether all these characters are to be found in young in first plumage. 



