114 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



Black- winged Pratincole. G /areola nordtnanni Fischer. 



The range of the Black-winged Pratincole is rather more 

 easterly than that of the last species, though apparently both 

 occur in south-eastern Europe and western Siberia. In May 

 and June, 1903, and again in May, 191 3, small parties were seen 

 in Kent and Sussex, were ruthlessly shot down, and passed 

 into the hands of the taxidermist and eventually into private 

 collections. Only one other bird is recorded, a bird of the 

 year killed in August, 1909, in Yorkshire. It was feeding with 

 Lapwings when shot. 



The main points of difference from the Collared Pratincole 

 are that the axillaries and under wing-coverts of this bird are 

 black, and that the secondaries have no white tips. Length, 

 io*5 ins. Wing, 7*3 ins. Tarsus, 1*4 ins. 



Family CHARADRIID.F:. Sub-family 

 PHALAROPODIN.E. 



Three anterior toes with membranous lobes. 



Grey Phalarope. Phalaropus fuHcarius (Linn.). 



" Coot-footed Sandpiper " is a fowler's name for the Grey 

 Phalarope (Plate 48), and a similar reference to the Coot is 

 implied in both generic and specific names. The imperfect 

 web, forming distinct lateral lobes on the distal joints of the 

 toes, is a character that separates the phalaropes from the 

 other sandpipers. The Grey Phalarope has an Arctic circum- 

 polar range ; the nearest breedmg haunts to Britain are 

 Greenland and Iceland. After the breeding season it is a long- 

 distance traveller, for it has been noted in the Falkland Islands 

 and New Zealand. Though it occurs in winter on inland 

 waters in all parts of Europe, its migratk)n travels are often 



