350 Mr. T. Ayres on the 
from gape 3£ inches, ditto from forehead 2 T %, wing 8f, tail 
3J, tarsus 2f. 
[On comparing the above measurements with a male and 
female previously sent from Transvaal, I find that the dimen¬ 
sions of the male of this pair agree almost exactly with the 
above, bnt the female is decidedly smaller, measuring as fol¬ 
lows—bill from forehead 2jq inches, wing 7f, tarsus 2*. 
As this is the only species of this restricted group which I 
have seen from Transvaal, I suspect that it may be the same 
as that quoted in Mr. BarratPs list as “ Ardea leucoptera” 
vide Ibis, 1876, p. 210f.—J. H. G.] 
'/-213. Numenius arquatus (Linn.). Common Curlew. 
Female shot 9th October ; total length 25 inches, bill from 
forehead 6f, wing 12J, tarsus 4. 
This is a very scarce bird indeed in these parts; two spe¬ 
cimens were seen last year, of which this is one; I did not 
hear either of them utter the usual cry of the Curlew; both 
were silent. 
214. Numenius ph^eopus (Linn.). Common Whimbrel. 
I shot a Whimbrel during the month of November, the only 
one I have ever seen. 
[This identification rests on Mr. Ayreses authority, the spe¬ 
cimen not having been forwarded.—J. H. G.] 
-/-Phxlomachus pugnax (Linn.). Buff. 
The male sent was shot from a flock on 24th August; it 
is the most nearly in full plumage of any specimen that I 
have seen. 
[This example retains the remains of the two occipital tufts 
and of the portion of the ruff between them; the remaining 
tuft-plumes are about three quarters of an inch in length, the 
intervening feathers being much shorter; it also retains con- 
* A similar disparity in the size of the sexes has been noticed in an 
allied Indian species, Ardeola grayi , Sykes, vide ‘ Stray Feathers,’ vol. iv. 
p. 350. 
t Mr. Barratt also includes in his list u Ardetta vninuta which I ven¬ 
ture to think may he an error, as I have never seen this species from South 
Africa, hut only the nearly allied but smaller species, A. podiceps , Bon. 
(conf. Ibis, 1873, p. 257).—J. H. G. 
