LOBIVANELLTJS. 179 



The genus Lobivanellus contains as many species as its nearest ally Vanellus ; but it is 

 decidedly more tropic in its distribution, as may be seen from the following resume : — 



Temperate Eurasia 1 Climatic 



c, , -i A p • -, distribution, 



bouth Africa 1 



Temperate Australia 2 



Temperate species — 4 



Tropical Asia 5 



Tropical Africa 5 



Tropical species — 10 



Species and subspecies of Lobivanellus . . — 14 



The Wattled Lapwings, like their cousins the true Lapwings, are not sea-shore but 

 either river-bank or steppe birds, and consequently we find that the laws of their distribu- 

 tion are Passerine, except that they show a great tendency to disperse in climatic zones — a 

 Batrachian or Piscatorial peculiarity. 



The most northerly species of this genus, L. cinereus (a migratory species, breeding on 

 the Mongolian steppes and wintering in India), is probably the least changed representative 

 of the ancestors of the genus. It has a small wattle, a hind toe, but only the rudiments of 

 a spur. The earliest emigrants from Mongolia of the ancestral species appear to have 

 settled in two colonies, one in India and the other in Cochin China. The latter are still 

 represented by L. atronuclialis, which in its turn despatched parties of emigrants to East 

 Australia (the ancestors of L. pectoralis) and to India (the ancestors of L. indicus), where 

 the imperfect isolation prevented the differentiation from being complete ; whence they 

 afterwards extended their range into Africa, the ancestors of L. melanocep7ialiis being 

 isolated in Abyssinia, those of L. superciliosus further south beyond Lake Tanganyika, and 

 those of L. tectus more to the west. All these species agree in having black heads and 

 small wattles, and very small or only rudimentary spurs ; and the three species which 

 respectively breed in India, Cochin China, and Australia, further agree in having bronzed 

 wing-coverts. The other colony, which originally emigrated to India, is still represented in 

 that country by L. malabaricus, in Java, Sumatra, and Timor by L. cucullatus, in North 

 Australia and some of the adjoining islands by L. personatus, and in East Australia by 

 L. lobatus. It also appears to have despatched colonies to Africa, whose descendants 

 became L. lateralis in South Africa, L. senegalensis in West Africa, and L. albiceps in 

 Central Africa. All these seven species agree in having very large wattles, and, with the 

 exception of the Indian species, large spurs. The four Asiatic and Australian species have 

 black heads, and, with the exception of the Indian species, uniform greater wing-coverts 

 without white tips. The three African species have white foreheads and crowns. The fact 



2a 2 



