ments. on the sand very much resembled those of the Kinged
Plover (Zool. p. 8710); and the late Mr. Ross informed
Mr. Gatcombe that he once saw-two on the Warren 'Sands,
near Exmouth (Rowe’s B. of Devon, p. 82).- Mr. - J / 0.
Mansell-Pleydell states (B. of Dorset, p. 25) that one which
is in the collection of Viscount PortmaU was shot "at Bryan-
ston, on the banks of the Stour, some years ago; and he
mentions two others as having been seen in the county.
In October, 1864, a maimed or weary bird was knocked
aver with shingle on the beach of Stokes Bay, near Gosport
(Zool. s.s. p. 2944). In June, 1874, the late E. H. Rodd
obtained a male Pratincole in the flesh, which had been <shot
when apparently hawking for insects over- a :pOol> on the
Lizard downs (Zool. s.s. p. 4077); and Mr. -Ef C; Phillips:
states that one was observed iome time since"b-y two competent
observers hear Hay, in Breconshire (Zool. 1882,
p. 213). An example is-cited'by the Rev. M. A. Mathew
(Zool. 1881, p. 309) as having been killed on the Mendips,
in Somersetshire ; and there are probably several -unrecorded
specimens in existence/
In Ireland a Pratincole is stated to have,-been shot by the
Rev. Joseph Stopford, at Castlefreke,: Co. [Gmk, i'ndhe
month of October, a few years previous to. '1843, but the
specimen was not preserved.* .
The Pratincole is only a straggler to Denmark, Germany,
Belgium, and the-northern portion ofErancey.-but in the
south-eastern districts <of the latter “ country /£$ breeds,
especially in the Gard. In Savoy-and Switzerland- it is only
a rare visitant,. but along the- coast of Italy, where itfasi
known as tfxeWernice d i-w sm t it d*Ja tolerably regular
migrant of short stay; and in Sicily it is to a-certain-extent
resident, breeding abundantly in the southern dis^rtcis? -'-In
the Spanish Peninsula it i§-?ery numerous in suitable localities,
such as' are- afforded by the great plains'or mari'sma
along :the Guadalquivir, where. §|t breeds in hundreds. It
also- breeds^ in the.Balearic Islands, but in .Sardinia^ it
appears to- be a somewha|)p'regular’,yisitani, and in Malta
* J. R. Harvey, * Fauna of
Mr. C. A. Wright found it only as a migrant.' In Greece
and the neighbouring islands it is most numerous in winter,
and oh passage, but Mr. H. Seébohm found it breeding on
the islands of the Lagoons of Missolonghi. He also found
it bfèeding nèar Smyrna, as Canon Tristram did in Palestine;
but.along the, eastern side of the Black Sea, in Turkey,
and Southern Russia, and upr to 56° N tla t/in the latter,
this species appears to'be replaced by a closely allied form,
Glareola 'melanoptera, which is father darker, and has the
under wing-Coverts and axillaries black, instèad of chestnut-
fed. Both were obtained by Dr. Einsc-h at Ala-Kul, in
. South-western, Siberia ; but^in Turkeétan Severtzoff found '
G.rpmtvncola and a form' intermediate between it and G\
■ mefànâptera, which he identifies with • jÈs Mmbqta, Brehm.'
In Morocco the Pratincole ‘ is—now well known as a
common", species; but when th | former Editions of this work
were published, "great store was-set-upon two skins and; aA
::égg of what was,'then, an exceedingly rare bird, obtained by
; Colonel ;Dfummond-Hay near' Tàngiérs, and presented to
thesZoological Society. In Algeria it breeds in abundance,
and it is numerous in Egypt, ïrèm.'whenfee it can be traced
to Abyssinia, and as far as Natal oh the une side ; and
Damara-land on the west ;r: but the common form in winter
in * Sojrth - Africa appears torb^G^Melamptera. In Persia
Mr. W. ”T. -Blanford ; obtained, ouf s'pècies, which breeds :in
. Sind, "and also "Occurs' sparingly in the'northern parts of
India, but throughout the " central and southerh districts hf’
that country/ South-eastern Asia, and Malaysia, down to
Australia, the prevailing and representative form is OE\bsri-'
-entails, which smaller, has a?less" forked tail, and lacks the
white tips to the secondaries.'' The latter race was the only
rone found Iby the Abba David in .Mongolia,:and, according
to Taczànowski, by Radde on the Argun. The family
: Gltâféolïd'oe is resfricted'to the Old World.
/"Before' having had an ^opportunity of examining a speci-
menf Linnæus had classed' the Pratincole with thdrSwallows
ihdhe'g'ernis Hiiwrhdo | “but when hè had -received one
Sent. by the Rev. John White from Gibraltar, he writes