COLLARED PRATINCOLE. 



3 



specimen from Shetland produced 8/. 8*., and was trans- 

 fen-ed to the British Museum. 



Mr. Joseph Clarke, of Saffron Walden, sent me word that 

 a pair of Pratincoles was shot on the Breydon-wall near Yar- 

 mouth, in May 1827, by John Bessy, a fisherman, and sold 

 to Isaac Harvey, a bird preserver, who resold them for 7/. 

 The occurrence and capture of this pair of Pratincoles is 

 mentioned in Paget's sketch of the Natural History of Yar- 

 mouth and its neighbourhood (page 10). 



From Mr. F. Holme I learned, that a Pratincole was shot 

 by Frederick Gates, Esq. of Branston Hall, near Lincoln, on 

 the 15th of August 1827, Avhile flying about much like a 

 Swallow, and near the ground. 



The Rev. Leonard Jcnyns sent me notice of a Pratincole 

 shot in Wilbraham Fen, Cambridgeshire, in May 1835 ; and 

 I have since ascertained that this specimen is now in the col- 

 lection of J. T. Martin, Esq. of Quy Hall, in that county. 

 In May 1840, a Pratincole was shot upon the shore of the 

 harbour of Blakeney in Norfolk, by Henry Overton, a 

 fowler, and passed into the possession of Mr. John Sparham, 

 by whom it was presented to Henry Rogers, Esq. solicitor, 

 at Thetford. A living specimen was preserved for some 

 months in the aviary at the Gardens of the Zoological So- 

 ciety. It was very quiet in confinement, and had a habit 

 of throwing the head back, as if looking upwards. M. Tem- 

 minck says it frequents the banks of rivers, and the marshy 

 margins of large lakes, making its nest among rushes or other 

 dense aquatic vegetation. I have, however, very lately learn- 

 ed something more. Among a collection of birds, recently 

 presented to the Zoological Society by the son of Drummond 

 Hay, Esq., and which had been shot by this young gentleman 

 in the vicinity of Tangiers, were two skins of the Pratincole. 

 On making inquiry of the donor in reference to the Pratin- 

 cole particularly, I learned that the habits of this bird corre- 



B 2 



