THE PLOVER. 323 



which frequents the banks of the Nile in great quantities. 

 When the crocodile comes on shore to repose, he is assailed 

 by swarms of these gnats, which get into his mouth in such 

 numbers that his palate, naturally of a bright yellow colour, 

 appears covered with a blackish-brown crust. Then it is that 

 this little Plover, which lives on these insects, comes to the 

 aid of the half-choked crocodile, and relieves him of his tor- 

 mentors ; and this without any risk, as the crocodile, before 

 shutting his mouth, takes care, by a preparatory movement, to 

 warn the bird to be off. This singular process is, moreover, 

 not confined to the crocodiles of Egypt. It has been noticed 

 in those of the West Indies, where, when attacked in a 

 similar manner by small flies, called Maringouins, a little bird 

 which lives chiefly on flies and insects, performs the same kind 

 office. 



In the above cases, the food of the bird is said to be flies, 

 but there is good reason for believing that perfect reliance may 

 be placed on the account of Herodotus, and that leeches and 

 insects are the objects sought for ; as a letter from a gentle- 

 man in Calcutta was read at a meeting of the Linnsean Society 

 in London, describing certain leeches which had been taken 

 from the throat of a large alligator (which are also found to 

 infest the throat of the Gigantic Crane, or Hurgila, already 

 mentioned). These leeches were of various sizes, some exceed- 

 ingly minute, of a florid red when alive, semi-transparent, and 

 thus showing the blood they had swallowed. 



In some parts of France, where Plovers fly in large flocks, 

 they are decoyed into nets spread on the ground by the play- 

 ing of a looking-glass, which attracts their notice, with the 

 addition of some stuffed birds, and here and there a live one 

 intermixed. In another part they are hunted at night with 

 torches, the light of which attracts them. 



Woodcocks and Snipes are too well known to require de- 

 scription, as far as their outward appearance is concerned. But 

 in their habits, and more particularly in the migrations of the 

 former, there is much to excite our curiosity. With few 

 exceptions, other birds manifest a fondness for each other's 

 society j and even if they do not fly in flocks, may be found 



