42 OTINvE. GLAREOLA. 



the eye to the occiput ; the primaries black. Young with the 

 upper parts of a duller tint, with undulated angular trans- 

 verse dusky lines. 



Male, 10.., 6f, 1, Itf, T j, A. 



Said to inhabit various parts of Africa, and especially 

 Abyssinia. Individuals have occurred in Italy, Spain, Swit- 

 zerland, and Germany ; but in the latter more northern coun- 

 tries it is considered an extremely rare straggler. In England 

 not more than four specimens are recorded to have been ob- 

 tained : the first in East Kent, in 1785 ; the second in North 

 Wales, in 1793; the third in Yorkshire, in 1816; the fourth 

 in Leicestershire, in 1827. 



Cream-coloured or European Swiftfoot, or Plover. 



Cursorius Europseus. Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 751. Curso- 

 rius isabellinus, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. ii. 513. Cursorius 

 isabellinus, ' Cream-coloured Courser, MacGillivray, Brit. 

 Birds, iv. 



GENUS LXXXVH. GLAREOLA. PRATINCOLE. 



The birds of this genus, all of small size, and remarkable 

 for their very long and pointed wings, forked tail, and slen- 

 der feet, have by some been considered as Swallows, by 

 others as belonging to the Gallinaceous family, and by some 

 again as allied to the Plovers. I think their true place is 

 next to the Cursorii and Pluviales. Their bill is short, 

 moderately stout, somewhat arcuate, wider than high at the 

 base, compressed toward the end ; upper mandible with the 

 dorsal line straight at first, then arcuato-decurvate, the nasal 

 sinus wide and feathered, the ridge narrow, the edges sharp 

 and inflected toward the end, without notch, the tip rather 

 acute ; lower mandible with the angle of moderate width, 

 the dorsal line slightly decurved, the edges sharp and in- 

 flected, the tip acute ; the gape-line arched, and commencing 

 beneath the eyes, so that the mouth is wide, and in no re- 

 spect resembles that of the Plovers. Nostrils basal, lateral, 

 oblong, oblique. Eyes large, lower eyelid bare. Aperture 

 of ear rather large. Legs of moderate length, very slender ; 

 tibia bare for a short space ; tarsus moderate, slender, reti- 

 culated ; hind toe very small, a little elevated, lateral toes 

 very short, the outer a little longer, the middle toe much ex- 



