342 



white ; lores and a band passing below the eye down the side of the neck black ; lower throat and 

 breast ochraceous ferruginous, rest of the underparts with the axillaries and under wing-coverts white ; 

 legs and feet blackish; iris brown. Total length about 6"0 inches, culmen 07, wing 4*1, tail 1"85, 

 tarsus 1'2, bare portion of tibia 065. 



Adult in winter (Lower Nile). Differs from the adult in breeding-plumage in lacking the black markings 

 on head and neck ; the forehead and stripe behind the eye are tinged with buff, as are the sides of the 

 head, nape reddish brown ; upper breast tinged with greyish brown, the ochreous-rufescent colour on 

 breast is wanting, and the underparts generally are whiter than in the breediug-plumage. 



Young in down (S. Africa). Upper parts sandy grey, marbled with warm buff and black; a dark band 

 passes through the centre of the crown to the nape, and a broad black band passes down the middle 

 of the back, and there is also a black margin on the sides ; underparts white, tinged with buff on the 

 flanks ; fore part of the crown white. 



The range of the present species extends throughout Africa, from Lower Egypt to the Cape of 



Good Hope, and in the former country it extends just within the limits of the Western Palasarctic 



area, though it does not appear to do so in North-west Africa, as I do not find it recorded from 



Tunis, Algeria, or Morocco. In Egypt it occurs to the Delta of the Nile, and is, Mr. E. C. Taylor 



informs me, not rare. Captain Shelley (B. of Egypt, p. 239) says that he found it "plentiful in 



Egypt and Nubia, frequenting similar localities to those of JEgialitis cantiana and jE. minor, and 



may generally be met with in flocks. Its numbers appear to vary considerably in the same locality 



in different years," for in 1870, he remarks, he only met with it once, near Golosaneh, although 



he was then anxious to procure some specimens, while in 1868 and 1871 it was one of the most 



abundant of the small Plovers. Mr. E. C. Taylor met with it near Girgeh ; and, according to 



von Heuglin (Orn. N.O.-Afr. p. 1035), it is a tolerably common resident in the entire Nile country, 



from Lower Egypt south to the White and Blue Nile. Dr. O. Finsch records it from Zoulla. 



Throughout Africa it appears to be very generally distributed both on the coasts and in the 



interior. On the west coast, Dr. Reichenow records it (J. f. 0. 1886, p. 381) from the Gold Coast 



to the Gaboon, on the coast and on lagoons and rivers, and (J. f. O. 1890, p. 107) at Bimbia on 



the sea-coast, and on the Camaroon at the villages; and Mr. Hartert (J. f. O. 1886, p. 610) met 



with it at Kama, Sokoto, and Anassarawa in the Niger Beniie country. Du Chaillu found it on 



the Camma River ; and Anchieta records it from Benguela. Andersson (B. of Damaraland, 



p. 274) speaks of it as not uncommon in Damaraland, but he does not think that it breeds there. 



At some seasons he found it very abundant at Objimbinque, but did not recollect having ever 



observed it on the sea-shore. Mr. E. L. Layard speaks of it (B. of S. Afr. p. 297) as being 



common about the chain of lagoons formed by the Salt River and along the sea-shore near Cape 



Town. He also saw it in September on the rocks at Green Point and on Robben Island, and 



it is abundant near Zoetendals-Vley. 



According to Mr. Ayres (Ibis, 1869, p. 300) it remains throughout the summer and breeds 

 in the Transvaal, arriving there in August, and leaving for the winter months, and it has been 

 recorded from most parts of East Africa. Captain Shelley (Ibis, 1888, p. 305) records it from 

 Manda Island and Jipi, and (Ibis, 1894, p. 474) from Lake Shirwa in Nyasaland. Dr. G. A. 



