53- 



sJ 



good specimens. Perhaps they are unusually abundant this year, which may account for your 

 visitor.' " 



More recently Mr. Wright has recorded another specimen of the present species from Malta 

 Ibis, 1870, p. 491):— 



" A second example of this very scarce European visitor was shot on some marshy ground at 

 the head of the grand harbour, on the 24th of October, 1869. It had no companions ; and it was 

 by mere chance that its occurrence became known. The taxidermist I usually employ happened 

 to be a relation of the man who shot it; and having seen the specimen obtained by me in 

 1864, and the figure of it in ' The Ibis' (1865, pi. x.), he immediately recognized its value, and 

 saved it from being cooked. When shown to me it had already been set up, but the skin was 

 quite fresh. Like the former specimen it was a female ; the tail was entirely white, without the 

 terminal brown bar which is sometimes present in this species. The bird-stuffer assured me that 

 the irides were brown, which agrees with the experience of Dr. Adams, who shot this bird in the 

 Punjaub ; the margins of the eyelids were red. There was nothing extraordinary in the weather 

 to account for its appearance." 



In North-eastern Africa the White-tailed Lapwing more frequently occurs, the following 

 observations having been recorded by naturalists who have procured it there. 



Captain Shelley has written to us as follows : — 



" Chettusia leucura is essentially a marsh-Plover, rarely absent from any boggy ground, but 

 not met with near running water or where there is a firm bottom of sand or mud. They have a 

 short, hoarse cry, and no variety of note. I think that the crimson reflection on the back fades 

 slightly, as it appears very bright in the sunshine when the bird is just killed. It is generally 

 met with in pairs, rarely more than four together, and never with flocks of other Plovers." 



We are indebted to Mr. Edward Cavendish Taylor for the following interesting account of 

 the habits of the present species : — 



" I have observed Chettusia leucura in Egypt from December to the middle of April. It is 

 generally to be seen in small flocks, and is only found in wet, swampy places. It seems to be 

 essentially a marsh-frequenting Plover; there is an extensive marsh near Thebes, in Upper 

 Egypt, which it especially affects. I have also seen it in the Alexandria bird-market in the 

 months of February and April, and have been told on good authority that it is not uncommon 

 throughout the Delta wherever there are to be found marshes suited to its habits. There is no 

 difference whatever between the sexes during the time of year that I have had the opportunity of 

 observing it. I do not know if it remains in Egypt to breed or not, so cannot tell you any thing 

 about its nidification. In living or newly killed specimens the legs and feet are of the brightest 

 yellow ; and the eyes are very large." 



Mr. George Cavendish Taylor, who accompanied his brother on his first expedition to Egypt, 

 also sends us a note on this bird : — 



" The specimen of the White-tailed Plover which was brought to England by my brother, 

 and mentioned by him first in the 'Zoologist' for 1854, and subsequently in 'The Ibis' for 1859, 

 was shot by me on the 16th January, 1854, about four miles west of Thebes, in the direction of 

 Erment, where there is an extensive marshy tract bordering on the desert and intersected by 

 natural drains, deep and muddy: it was then, and probably is still, a favourite haunt for 



o 



