PRATINCOLA. 



Adult Male in Summer Plumage. Above black ; rump duller ; upper tail 

 coverts white ; central tail feathers blackish brown, basally white, the others 

 dark brown on the outer web and white on the inner ; wings black ; quills 

 duller, margined pale brown ; a white wing spot ; breast bright rufous ; sides 

 of head and throat black; on the sides of the neck a white patch, broader at 

 the lower throat ; rest of under surface pure white, tinged with rufescent on the 

 sides ; under wing coverts black, edged with white. " In the winter plumage 

 the male is nearly a sandy brown above, almost uniform, the black centres to 

 the feathers being effectually concealed ; upper tail coverts white, sandy rufous 

 at their ends ; tail feathers dark brown, edged with sandy colour ; the inner 

 webs white, slightly shaded with sandy buff at the tips ; wings black, with 

 broad sandy brown edges to the feathers ; the inner secondaries margined with 

 rufous, some of the feathers forming the white wing patch, edged with brown ; 

 a loral line of ashy white ; feathers in front of and round the eye black, with 

 sandy brown edgings ; throat black, obscured by ashy white margins to the 

 feathers ; on each side of the lower throat a white patch half concealed by 

 rufous tips to the feathers ; breast and sides of body orange rufous, the feathers 

 edged with sandy buff ; plumes on the sides of the upper breast white, tipped 

 rufous ; under wing coverts and axillaries white with dusky bases." 



" The adult female is earthy brown, with more or less distinct remains of 

 sandy brown edges ; upper tail coverts sandy buff ; tail feathers brown, dull 

 white along the basal portion of the inner web ; wings brown, with buffy white 

 tips to the greater coverts ; wing patch smaller than in the males ; lores fulvous, 

 extending over the forepart of the eye ; round the latter a ring of sandy buff ; 

 ear coverts brown with fulvous shaft- lines ; cheeks and throat white ; breast 

 and sides of body paler orange buff ; the centre of the abdomen buffy white ; 

 under wing coverts and axillaries pale sandy buff with dusky bases ; quills 

 brown below, whitish along the edge of the inner web ; bill and feet brownish 

 black ; irides brown." (Sharpe.) 



Length. 5 inches; wing 2-5 ; tail 2; bill at front 0*5. 



Jfab. India and Burmah, N.-W. Himalayas, Sind, Punjab, at Mooltan, 

 and the Gangetic Valley, where Jerdon states he found it most abundant from 

 Rajmahal to Monghyr, frequenting fields and long grasses. It winters in Sind 

 and the Punjab. In Burmah Gates collected specimens a few miles south of 

 Thayetmyo, and Colonel Lloyd at Tonghoo. Mr. Blanford found it on the 

 Irrawady, and Davison in the neighbourhood of Pahpoon. It frequents the 

 neighbourhood of swamps and wet paddy fields. 



217. Pratincola caprata (Linn.), Biyth, J. A. s. B. xvi.p. 129; 



JBp. Consp. i. p. 305 ; Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 123, No. 481 ; Hume, Str. F. 1873, 

 pp. 182, 379; 1874, pp. 4i3> 477; l8 7S, P- '34; 1877, p. 229; 1876, 

 p. 259; Str. F. 1875, p. 238; Murray, Vert. Zool., Sind, p. 141 ; Dates, B. 

 Br. Burm. i. p. 281 ; Blanfd. Eastern Persia, p. 144; Murray, Hdbk^ ZooL, 



