especially as the sun begins to sink, hawking for insects
over the marsh-lands and corn-fields in every direction.
Its favourite breeding-localities are the vast open and
almost entirely barren expanses of mud that have been
under water during the late autumn and winter, and
become dry and baked hard by the sun of March and
April. In these localities the Pratincole lays two or
three eggs side by side, without any attempt at a nest,
during the first fortnight of May. These eggs are very
unlike those of any Plover with which I am acquainted,
although the authorities have (in my opinion) rightly
classed the Glareolidce between the Stone-Curlews and
the Coursers. In flight, cry, and general habit of life
the present bird much resembles the Marsh-Terns, and
its eggs have a certain resemblance to those of some
of that group. Linnaeus, who had classed it with the
Swallows before having seen it, on receiving a specimen
from Gibraltar, wrote of it:—“ Ad Grallas spectat, et
proprii generis est ” (Yarrell’s ‘ British Birds,’ 4th ed.
vol. iii. p. 236). During the heat of the day these
birds for the most part remain upon the ground, either
basking in the sun or running swiftly in pursuit of
beetles and other insects, though some are at all times
hawking over the plains. Towards sunset they all
become active, and may be seen skimming and hovering
at no great height in every direction, and continue on
wing long after darkness has set in. In my experience
the Pratincole is rather a silent bird, except when
disturbed in its breeding-haunts, when it is very
clamorous and utters a harsh, rapidly repeated cry,
which to my ears resembles that ef some of the smaller
Terns. During the breeding-season these birds are
perfectly fearless of man, and will boldly attack a dog,
but, when merely resting awhile on their migrations, I
have found them difficult of approach, without a certain
amount of scheming, though when on wing they will
pass and repass within a few yards of unconcealed
human beings.
The Pratincole frequently cowers with extended wings
on the bare ground without any apparent cause, and as
frequently lies upon its side with one wing partially
elevated, as represented in the Plate. We found this
species in abundance in the plains of Cyprus in May,
but did not discover any eggs, although I have no
doubt that it breeds in the island. In Corfu and on
the opposite mainland of Epirus these birds appear in
April and haunt suitable localities for a considerable
time; but I am not aware of their breeding in those
regions anywhere nearer to Corfu than Mesolonghi.
Mr. John Gould informed me that he had never seen
a young Pratincole in down, and had no idea as to its
appearance; I was able to procure some of these birds
for him in Spain in this stage in 1869, that could not
have been more than two or three days old; as I
expected, they can run like typical Plovers on leaving
the egg. Mr. Gould gives a very accurate representation
of the young bird in this early stage in his grand
work, the ‘ Birds of Great Britain.’ Colonel Irby, in
his useful ‘ Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar,’
tells us that he found Pratincoles “ in countless thousands
” in Morocco to the south of Larache in April,
but they had not then begun to lay; he goes on to