400 On the Ornithology of the Egyptian Soudan. 



therefore, thinking there might be eggs underneath her, I 

 walked round the pool, but when I got there the bird had 

 gone, and there was nothing to mark the exact place. I 

 raked up the sand with my fingers for some time at what I 

 thought was the right spot, but could find nothing. Next 

 morning I was again fishing at the same pool, and again the 

 Pluvianus came and sat in exactly the same place. This 

 time, to avoid having to take my eyes off her, I waded 

 across the pool ; she rose to her feet and ran off as I 

 approached, and this time I felt the two eggs, under about 

 an inch of sand, at the first attempt. This bird was sitting 

 on the sand above her eggs, probably to keep the extreme 

 heat of the sun off them. Neither in sitting down or rising 

 did she scratch in the sand to expose or to re-bury them. 

 This was about noon, and the heat on the sand was 

 tremendous. There was no disturbance whatever of the 

 surface to indicate the presence of the eggs beneath, and 

 absolutely accurate locating from a distance was essential to 

 finding them. 



327. Cursorius gallicus (Gm.). 



a. ? . Khartoum, Nov. 27, 1902. 



b. S. „ Jan. 30, 1903. 



e. o • ) 5 >> 



d. o • >, a 



The Cream-coloured Courser is tolerably abundant on the 

 deserts of the Northern and North- Western Soudan. 



328. Rhinoptilus chalcopterus (Temm.). 



Capt. H. N. Dunn, R.A.M.C., shewed me the skin of a 

 specimen which he had shot at Roseires. I have not myself 

 met with the bird. 



I have since seen an example recently killed at Gondokoro. 



329. Glareola pratincola (Linn.). 



a. o. Khartoum, Feb. 22, 1903. 



b. o. „ Jan. 1903. 



Pratincoles are abundant, and are met with in pairs, small 

 parties, or large flocks. Their habit of rising spirally in a 

 column has been well described by Mr. Hawker. In the 



