254 



liLAREOLID.E. 



PRATINCOLE. 



In New South Wales it does not occur on the coastal side of the l)i\ idint,' Ixange, but 

 inhabits the Central and Western J^istricts. Mr. G. lidwards sent a specimen from Tiboo- 

 burra, in the dry north-western portion of the State, and it occurs in similar country in 

 the adjoining part of South Australia. In October, iSgG, Mr. S. Robinson found it breeding on 

 Buckiinguy Station, near the Macquarie Marshes, in the western Central District, and from the 



central Western District I 

 received its eggs from the late 

 Mr. W. Liscombe, taken by him 

 near Wilcannia,in October, 18S3. 

 Further south and west Dr. W. 

 Macgillivray found it breeding 

 in the Broken Hill District, and 

 south-east from that city the late 

 Mr. K. II. Bennett obtained 

 numerous examples, as well as 

 its eggs, near Mossgiel and the 

 Lachlan River. In 1S84, in South 

 Australia, it was common in 

 the neighbourhood of Adelaide, 

 breeding freely at Goodwood and 

 Glenelg. While resident in Vic- 

 toria, I well remember taking 

 a specimen to the late Sir Frederick McCoy, at the National Museum, Melbourne, for identifi- 

 cation, and the pleasure it gave him when I presented it to that Institution, the species at that 

 time being unrepresented in the Museum Collection. 



The Pratincole may be easily distinguished by its long pointed wings, which equal or 

 exceed the entire length of the body, from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail. 



On the 20th October, 1896, Mr. S. Robinson forwarded me a rougli skin of this species for 

 identification, procured on Buckiinguy Station, in the western portion of the Central District of 

 New South Wales, and wrote as follows: — " I am forwarding you an miperfect skin for identifi- 

 cation of a bird which I shot here, on a bare patcli of red soil, a few days ago. This species 

 has not been seen by any of the men who have lived here for twenty years, but I remember 

 seeing the bird during very dry seasons on the Bokhara River, in Northern New South 

 Wales. In addition to seeing them here I took four sets of their eggs, two in each, and all 

 deposited on the bare ground within a circle of thirty yards diameter. I saw more of these 

 birds on a red soil patch, on another part of the station, but I could not spare the time 

 to stop and look for their eggs." 



The late Mr. K. H. Bennett wrote as follows while resident at Mossgiel, in South-western 

 New South Wales : — " I found the eggs of Glairola ^rallai'ia while driving to a neighbouring 

 station. They were placed side by side, the smaller ends both pointed the same way, on the 

 bare loose earth, some two or three feet from the road, along which there was a great deal of 

 traffic, and in several instances the wheels of vehicles had passed within several inches of the eggs; 

 in one instance a vehicle had been driven over them, as was indicated by the wheel tracks on 

 either side. From the persistent manner in which the female sat on the eggs, allowing me to 

 almost touch her, I concluded they were hard sat upon, and in this surmise I was correct, 

 for on my return ne.xt day I found one of the eggs hatched. In this instance the old bird acted 

 on the aggressive, and savagely ran off the nest and pecked at my hand when I put it near her. 

 There were several of us, botli on foot and mounted, as well as some dogs around her, at the 

 distance of only a foot or two ; she calmly maintained her position, covering her egg and young. 



