Birds of Britain 

 THE BLACK-WINGED PRATINCOLE 



Qlareola melanoptera (Nordtnann) 



This is the Eastern form of the above, nesting from the 

 shores of the Black Sea eastwards to the Altai Two 

 specimens, which came over in company with the commoner 

 species, were shot in Kent in June 1903. 



It may be recognised by the under wing coverts being 

 black and the absence of the white tips to the secondaries. 



THE CREAM-COLOURED COURSER 



Cursorius gallicus (J. F. Qmelin) 



Inhabiting dry and arid regions south of the Mediter- 

 ranean, this species has nevertheless wandered up to our 

 islands on several occasions, and curiously enough always 

 on the autumn migration, between October and December. 

 The general colour above and below is sandy buff; quills 

 and under wing coverts blackish. There is a dark stripe 

 behind the eye, and the nape is bluish black, this colour 

 extending forward to the eye. Length 10 in. ; wing 6*3 in. 



THE DOTTEREL 



Eudromias morinellus (Linnaeus) 



A lonely, bleak and bare wind-swept moorland, where 

 the scanty herbage is kept short by the elements and the 



296 



