222 



VANELLUS. 



Geographi- 

 cal distribu- 

 tion. 



Nearest 

 ally. 



The Black-backed Lapwing is possibly found throughout South Africa, but I cannot 

 find any record of its occurrence in the Cape Colony. It is found in Angola and Benguela 

 (Bocage, Orn. d'Angola, p. 427) ; I have examples collected by Andersson in Damara- 

 Land and Great Namaqua-Land ; it breeds abundantly in the Transvaal (Barratt, Ibis, 

 1876, p. 212), and in the Matebele Country (Buckley, Ibis, 1874, p. 387), and was 

 obtained by Dr. Fischer in Ugogo, 300 miles west of Zanzibar (Reichenow, Journ. Orn. 

 1887, p. 47) ; but to Natal it appears to be only a winter visitor to the coast (Ayres, Ibis, 

 1865, p. 271), where it feeds on the mud-flats of the lagoons at the mouths of the rivers 

 during low water. It breeds on the " vleys " or marshes, and frequents the banks of rivers 

 and lakes. 



It is the South-African representative of V. spinosus. 



VANELLUS C0R0NATUS. 



CROWNED LAPWING. 



Diagnosis. Vanellus halluce nullo : calcari nullo : primariarum tectricibus pro majore parte albis. 



