Genus G l a r e o l a .
An isolated form among the Plovers. The six or seven species known are all confined to the Old World.
T heir chief food consists o f insects, which they capture on the wing, after the manner o f the Swallow.
In speaking o f an allied species (£?. melanoptera) , Mr. J . H. Gurney, in Andersson’s ‘ Birds o f Damara
Land,’ quotes the following from ‘ The F ie ld ’ newspaper o f February 26th, 1 870:— " T h e principal
enemy o f these great swarms (o f locusts), and the valued friend o f the Cape farmer, is the small locustbird,
Glareola Nordmanni...............These birds come, I may say, in millions, attendant on the flying
swarms of lo cu sts; indeed the appearance o f a few o f them is looked upon as a sure presage o f the
locust-swarms being at hand. Their mode o f operation, as I saw it, was as follows:—They intercept
a portion o f the swarm and form themselves into a ring o f considerable height, regularly widening
towards the top, so as to present the appearance o f a revolving balloon o r huge spinning-top. They thus fly
one over the other, and, hawking at the locusts, gradually contract their circle and speedily demolish the
locusts within its limits. As their digestion, like that o f all insectivorous birds, is very rapid, the form in
which they thus enclose their prey is admirably adapted to enable the lower to escape the droppings o f the
upper birds. When they have consumed this portion o f the swarm, they follow up the main body and
commence another attack, and so on, until night sets iu and the birds happen to lose the swarm o r the
locusts are all devoured. I should not forget to mention that the beak o f these birds is exactly o f such a
shape and such dimensions that when they seize the locusts the snap cuts off the four wings, and a passer by
sees a continual shower o f locusts’ wings falling on the ground. At another time, when I was stationed a t
Fort Peddie, and the country was suffering from the effects o f a long drought and was overrun with unusual
quantities o f ants and grasshoppers, we were visited by thousands o f these birds, which remained many days
devouring these pests. Though the locust-birds are excellent eating, no one ever thinks o f destroying them ;
and they were so fearless that, though I often rode or ran amongst them to test their tameness, only a few in
my immediate vicinity would rise, the rest continuing to feed ; but every ten minutes o r so the whole mass
would rise o f their own accord and fly, first a few yards to the right and then to the left, in a slanting
direction, presenting alternately a black and white wave of birds some miles in length, a sight never to be
forgotten by the spectator.”
265. G l a r e o l a p r a t í n c o l a
Com m o n P r a t i n c o l e .
An accidental visitor to the British Isles.
Vol. IV. PI. XLVI.
F am ily TA N TA L ID iE
Genus F a l c i n e l l u s .
266. F a l c i n e l l u s i g n e u s . . . Vol. IV. PI. XLVII.
G lossy I b is .
This bird has a wide range, being found in Europe, India, Africa, and Australia. Accidental in Britain.
F am ily SCOLOPACIDAE.
Under this family name I shall, like Mr. Harting, include many forms of strand- and marsh-loving birds,
beginning with the Curlews and ending with the Snipes.
Genus N u m e n iu s .'
The birds of this form will be found described in all general histories of birds under the trivial names of
Curlews and Whimbrels. One or other of the species are distributed over every country o f the entire globe.
In Britain we have two very distinct kinds, to which a third, a straggler from America, has just been ad d ed ;
here, however, it will only receive a passing notice.
267. N uM B n to s a n ^T a . . . . • • • • Vol. IV. PI. XLVIII.
C u r l ew .
Resident and universally dispersed. Lives much on the sea-shore during winter, and in summer resorts
to heathery hills and wastes for the purpose of breeding.
H I . 268. N u m e n iu s p h /e o p u s . . . • • • • • • . . Vol. IV. PI. XLIX.
W h im b r e l .
A spring and autumn visitant, leaving us a t the former period for regions further north, whither it proceeds
to breed.
269. N u m e n iu s b o r e a l i s .
Esquimaux Curlew.
This bird has been shot in this country about four times s being, however, purely au American species, it
is not figured.
Genus L im 'o sa .
Godwits, like Curlews, are all but universally dispersed over the sea-shores and marshes o f every country.