PRATINCOLE 207 
on beetles, and grasshoppers are also eaten. In the stomachs 
of two specimens (a male and a female) shot in May, 1827, 
on Breydon Wall, Messrs. Paget found quantities of beetles 
(A. Patterson, ‘ Zoologist,’ 1901, p. 98). 
Votce.—The voice is loud and scolding, not unlike that 
of the larger species of Terns: 
Nest. ~The Pratincole lays on the bare ground, “ on the 
sun-dried mud which has been covered with water during 
the rains of winter;” . . . “the eggs, two to three in 
Fic. 28.—PRATINCOLE. 
number, are laid with their axes parallel.” They are of 
a buffish-grey colour, blotched and zoned with black and 
purple-brown. Incubation begins early in May (Saunders). 
Geographical distribution.—This species breeds in North 
Africa, Southern Hurope, and Western Asia, migrating in 
winter to Southern Asia and Africa. On passage north 
comparatively few birds reach a higher latitude than that 
of France. 
DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial.—Top of head, hind-neck, 
back, scapulars, and wings, brown; some of the secondaries 
are edged with white; primaries, dark brown; tail, dark 
brown, with the bases of the feathers white; upper tail- 
