Dr. Latham first instituted this genus, of which two species were then known; M. Le Vaillant discovered another in Africa; and I am happy in now adding a fourth from the same country, in the possession of Mr. Leadbeater. No ornithologist has paid greater attention both to the natural affinities, and to the illustration of the genera allied with these birds, than Professor Temminck; and I therefore feel pleasure in naming this bird in honour of that excellent ornithologist, from whom whenever I have differed, it has been from the sole wish of eliciting truth. Total length from the bill to the tail eight inches; bill one inch from the gape, and half from the end of the nostrils; the colours of the bird are best seen in the figure; the middle of the body, and the quill feathers, deep black; legs three inches from the naked thigh to the tip of the middle toe, the claw of which is serrated internally; tail round; the middle feathers not spotted; the two next with a black dot near the tip, which, in the next pair, is further broken into two white dots; the outer pair white. These birds inhabit the arid tracts of Africa, at a distance from the sea, and run amazingly swift. One species has occasionally visited England.
