PEATINCOLE 207 



on beetles, and grasshoppers are also eaten. In the stomachs 

 of two specimens (a male and a female) shot in May, 1827, 

 on Breydon Wall, Messrs. Paget found quantities of beetles 

 (A. Patterson, 'Zoologist,' 1901, p. 98). 



Voice. The voice is loud and scolding, not unlike^that 

 of the larger species of Terns. 



Nest. The Pratincole lays on the bare ground, " on the 

 sun-dried mud which has been covered with water during 

 the rains of winter ;"..." the eggs, two to three in 



FIG. 28. PRATINCOLE. 



number, are laid with their axes parallel." They are of 

 a huffish-grey colour, blotched and zoned with black and 

 purple-brown. Incubation begins early in May (Saunders). 

 Geographical distribution. This species breeds in North 

 Africa, Southern Europe, and Western Asia, migrating in 

 winter to Southern Asia and Africa. On passage north 

 comparatively few birds reach a higher latitude than that 

 of France. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Top of head, hind-neck, 

 back, scapulars, and wings, brown ; some of the secondaries 

 are edged with white ; primaries, dark brown ; tail, dark 

 brown, with the bases of the feathers white; upper tail- 



