88 
ST. SELENA. 
he might have failed to make clear by his text ; but, unfortunately, 
t eie are two species to which, in the absence of all measurements, 
the description and plate will equally well apply. Not unnaturally 
therefore they have been applied by different naturalists to different 
birds, some supposing that Temminck intended to refer to the smaller 
of the two species, sometimes known as CL KUtlitzi, which is gene- 
rally distributed throughout the continent of Africa, and does not 
visit St. Helena ; others maintaining that the description and plate 
sufficiently indicate the larger bird, which, strange to say, is exclu- 
sively confined to that remote Island. 
To clear up the difficulty is the object of the present paper ; and, 
to plunge in medias res, I will first state the conclusions at which I 
have arrived, and then adduce the reasons which have led me to such 
conclusions. 
“ The bird u P on wllicb Temminck bestowed the specific name 
pecuarius is the smaller of the two allied species, which inhabits 
Africa generally, hut is not found in St. Helena. An older name 
for it is Charadnus varius, Vieillot. 
“The St. Helena bird, popularly known in the Island as the 
Wire-bird,’ is at present without a scientific appellation; and I 
piopose, therefore, to name it jEgialitis sanctce-helence. 
“Before I could form any opinion on this subject, it was of 
course material that I should examine the type or types of Temminck’s 
description. Accordingly I visited the rich museum at Leiden, 
where, although a week was too short to admit of my inspecting all 
the ornithological treasures, I was enabled to satisfy myself con- 
clusively upon this point, which was one of the chief objects of my 
visit. J 
“ The types were found duly labelled in Temminck’s handwriting 
Charadnus pecuarius. They are from the Cape of Good Hope, and 
belong undoubtedly to the smaller continental species. 
“ Further than this I saw no specimens of the St. Helena bird in 
the Museum, and, from the observations made to me at the time by 
Professor Schlegel, I feel assured that Temminck was not acquainted 
with that species. On carefully faking the measurements of the 
specimens which he had labelled, I find that they correspond almost 
exactly with those of the figure of CL pecuarius in the ‘Blanche 
coloriee,’ 183, which may therefore be said to be of life-size, although 
not so characterized in the accompanying letterpress. 
