COLLARED PRATINCOLE. 235 



Mr. C. A. Wright found it only as a migrant. In Greece 

 and the neighbouring islands it is most numerous in winter, 

 and on passage, but Mr. H. Seebohm found it breeding on 

 the islands of the Lagoons of Missolonghi. He also found 

 it breeding near Smyrna, as Canon Tristram did in Pales- 

 tine; but along the eastern side of the Black Sea, in Turkey, 

 and Southern Russia, and up to 56 N. lat. in the latter, 

 this species appears to be replaced by a closely allied form, 

 Glareola melanoptera, which is rather darker, and has the 

 under wing-coverts and axillaries black, instead of chestnut- 

 red. Both were obtained by Dr. Finsch at Ala-Kul, in 

 South-western Siberia ; but in Turkestan Severtzoff found 

 G. pratincola and a form intermediate between it and G. 

 melanoptera, which he identifies with G. limbata, Brehm. 



In Morocco the Pratincole is now well known as a 

 common species, but when the former Editions of this work 

 were published, great store was set upon two skins and an 

 egg of what was, then, an exceedingly rare bird, obtained by 

 Colonel Drummond-Hay near Tangiers, and presented to 

 the Zoological Society. In Algeria it breeds in abundance, 

 and it is numerous in Egypt, from whence it can be traced 

 to Abyssinia, and as far as Natal on the one side; and 

 Damara-land on the west ; but the common form in winter 

 in South Africa appears to be G. melanoptera. In Persia 

 Mr. W. T. Blanford obtained our species, which breeds in 

 Sind, and also occurs sparingly in the northern parts of 

 India, but throughout the central and southern districts of 

 that country, South-eastern Asia, .and Malaysia, down to 

 Australia, the prevailing and representative form is G. ori- 

 entalis, which is smaller, has a less forked tail, and lacks the 

 white tips to the secondaries. The latter race was the only 

 one found by the Abbe David in Mongolia, and, according 

 to Taczanowski, by Radde on the Argun. The family 

 Glareolidce is restricted to the Old World. 



Before having had an opportunity of examining a speci- 

 men, Linnaeus had classed the Pratincole with the Swal- 

 lows in the genus Hirundo ; but when he had received one 

 sent by the Rev. John White from Gibraltar, he writes 



