OTIN^E. GLAREOLA. 43 



ceeding the rest, and connected with the outer by a basal 

 membrane; claws slender, slightly arched, compressed, acute, 

 that of the middle toe very long, with the inner edge some- 

 what pectinate. Plumage moderate, soft, rather compact, 

 the feathers ovate or elliptical ; wings very long, narrow, 

 taper-pointed, very similar to those of the Swallows, but with 

 their cubital portion longer ; the quills twenty-five ; prima- 

 ries very long, stiff, tapering, the first longest ; inner se- 

 condaries moderate ; tail rather long, forked, of twelve fea- 

 thers. 



The Pratincoles, of which only three species are known, 

 inhabit Africa and the warmer regions of Asia. One spe- 

 cies is also extensively distributed in the southern and east- 

 ern parts of Europe, and sometimes makes its way even to 

 the most northern parts of Britain. They are said to run with 

 great celerity, fly with extreme rapidity, feed on insects and 

 aquatic worms, and reside in marshy places. 



165. GLAREOLA TORQUATA. COLLARED PRATINCOLE. 



Tail deeply forked ; wings very long, their tips, when closed, 

 reaching almost to the end of the tail ; upper parts greyish- 

 brown, tail-coverts white ; throat pale reddish-yellow, mar- 

 gined with two narrow bands, the inner white, the outer 

 black ; lower wing-coverts deep brownish-red. Young with 

 the upper parts greyish-brown, the feathers edged with red- 

 dish-white ; the throat greyish-white, margined with a line 

 of dusky spots ; lower parts grey ; tail little forked. 



Male, ^10 . ., 7J, T 8 2>. IT*, i 9 ^ I 5 *- 



Inhabits the margins of lakes and rivers in Asia and the 

 eastern parts of Europe, appears occasionally in the western 

 parts of the latter continent, and has been twice obtained in 

 Britain. The first individual was killed near Liverpool, in 

 1804 ; the other by Mr Bullock, in Shetland, in 1812. The 

 latter was observed to fly in the manner of swallows, but also 

 to run on the ground with rapidity, and to enter shallow wa- 

 ter, in pursuit of insects, of which its stomach was full. 



Austrian Pratincole. 



Hirundo Pratincola, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 345. Glareola 

 Austriaca. Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 753. Glareola torquata, 

 Temm. Man. d'Ornith. ii. 500. Glareola torquata, Collared 

 Pratincole, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iv. 



