LAPWINGS. 



483 



spur-winged lapwing (Hoplopterus armatus), which breeds in the valley of the 

 Nile, in Senegambia, and probably also in the intervening districts of Central 

 Africa, migrating in the spring to Palestine and some parts of South- 

 Eastern Europe. It lias large spurs, and may be distinguished from its allies 

 by the greater wing-coverts being white, and the lesser ones brown; and it is 

 also unique in having, when adult, the crown of the head, forehead, nape, chin, 

 throat, breast, flanks, and legs, black. This bird is extremely common in Egypt 

 and Nubia, where it frequents the banks of lakes, rivers, and canals, as well as 

 marshes and swamps. The chief interest connected with this species is that it 



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EGYPTIAN .SPUR-WINGED LAPWING 11 



appears to be the bird alluded to by Herodotus as being in the habit of entering 

 the open mouths of crocodiles for the purpose of feeding. For a long time it was 

 considered that the black-backed courser was the bird in question, and that the 

 whole story w r as a myth. The late Dr. Leith Adams gave, however, good reasons 

 for regarding the zic-zac (as this bird is called by the natives) as being really 

 the kind alluded to, while the recent observations of Mr. J. M. Cook strongly 

 confirm the original story. The narrative of the latter gentlemen, in a somewhat 

 condensed form, is as follows : " Early in 1876," he writes, " I was on the Nile, 

 between the first and second cataracts, and noticed on a large sandbank some 

 crocodiles of considerable size, and several of the birds which are called by all the 

 natives the crocodile-bird. As we had plenty of time, I decided that we would 

 spend a few hours in watching the crocodiles and the crocodile-birds. For this 



