GRALLATORES. 243 



in the Carolinas on crickets and other insects, as well as the 

 seeds of the crab-grass {Bigiiaria sanguinarid) ; and in the 

 barrens of Kentucky often picks the strawberries. Those 

 which have fed much on cantliarides require to be very care- 

 fully cleaned, otherwise persons eating them are liable to 

 suffer severely." 



Pamily GrLAREOLIDJS. 



I think Bonaparte was right when he instituted a family 

 name for the Pratincoles, for few groups of birds are more 

 isolated. Most modern ornithologists associate them with 

 the Plovers ; in many of their features they show an affinity 

 to the Swallows, with which group the illustrious Linnaeus 

 originally placed them. 



Genus GLAREOLA, Brisson. 



Species of this form inhabit India, the Indian Islands, 

 Europe, and Africa. 



Sp. 515. GLAREOLA GRALLARIA, Temm. 

 Australian Pratincole. 



Glareola grallaria, Tcmm. Man. d'Orn., torn. ii. p. 503. 



isabclla, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., torn. ii. p. 159, pi. 203. 



australis, Leach in Linn. Trans,, vol. xiii. p. 132, pi. 14. figs. 1, 2. 



Australasian Pratincole, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ix. p. 366. 

 Stiltia grallaria, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn, xlili. stance 

 du 2 Aout 1856. 



Glareola grallaria, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 22. 



This species of Pratincole possesses several remarkable 

 specific distinctions, the great length of the tarsi and primaries, 

 which, combined with the graceful contour of its body and the 

 small size of its head, render it the most elegant species of the 

 genus that has yet been discovered. The figure in Vieillot's 

 ' Galerie des Oiseaux ' is far less accurate than the description. 



R 2 



