he might have failed to mate clear by his text ; hut, unfortunately,
there 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 Ch. Kittlitzi, which is generally
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 exclusively
confined to that remote Island.
“ To clear up the difficulty is the object of the present paper ; and,
to plunge in médias 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 upon which Temminck bestowed the specific name
pecuarius is the smaller of the two allied species, which inhabits
Africa generally, but is not found in St. Helena. An older name
for it is Charadrius varius, Vieillot.
“ The St. Helena bird, popularly known in the Island as the
' Wire-bird,’ is at present without a scientific appellation ; and I
propose, therefore, to name it Æfjialitis sanctoe-hélenoe.
“ 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 conclusively
upon this point, which was one of the chief objects of my
visit.
“ The types were found duly labelled in Temminck’s handwriting,
Charadrius 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 taking the measurements of the
specimens which he had labelled, I find that they correspond almost
exactly with those of the figure of Ch. pecuarius in the ‘ Planche
coloriée,’ 183, which may therefore be said to be of life-size, although
not so characterized in the accompanying letterpress. . . . . ,