236 GLAREOLID^. 



from Upsala, under date of 3rd July, 1774 : — " Pratin- 

 colam antea non vidi ; ad Grallas spectat, et proprii generis 

 est." Sundevall placed it among the Caprimulgid(e, but 

 no other recent systematist of any note has removed it 

 from the Plovers, to which it has strong affinities. In its 

 flight it is also very Tern-like, especially when hovering 

 with extended wings ; hut when on the ground it runs with 

 a great rapidity. The note when the breeding-grounds are 

 invaded is a shrill kia, kia, kiaia, and the birds are very 

 fearless, swooping close to the intruder's head: then, after 

 settling on the ground for a time, they recommence their 

 evolutions ; but they have also a way of cowering over the 

 ground with extended wings which by no means indicates 

 the proximity of eggs or j'oung. The eggs, which in Spain 

 may be found from the beginning of May, although later in 

 some other localities, are frequently only two, but sometimes 

 three in number, and are deposited with their axes parallel 

 upon the dry mud. The shell is thin ; the form very oval ; 

 the ground-colour of a buff or grey, mottled with spots of 

 dark brown, sometimes in the form of an irregular zone, 

 and measuring about 1*15 by '9 in. In one instance Mr. 

 Seebohm found a clutch of four eggs, but the case is quite 

 exceptional ; and the fourth egg was probably the produce 

 of another female. The young, specimens of which were 

 obtained by Lord Lilford, and figured in Gould's * Birds of 

 Great Britain,' run as soon as they leave the egg; they are 

 white on the under parts, and clove-brown, with slight 

 mottlings, on the upper. The food of this species is gene- 

 rally obtained on the wing, although sometimes on the 

 ground, and consists of insects : especially beetles, grass- 

 hoppers, and locusts. 



The beak is curved, and almost black, and, in the living 

 bird, the edges of both mandibles, and the base of the lower 

 one, are bright scarlet-orange ; the irides light brown ; 

 the head, hind-neck, back, scapulars, wing-coverts, and 

 tertials, nearly uniform clove-brown ; primaries nearly 

 black; upper tail-coverts white ; tail very much forked, the 

 feathers white at the base, the other part dark brownish- 



