THE PLOVER. ]57 



(Charadrius JEgyptiacus), which sometimes enters 

 the mouth of the crocodile, attracted thither, not, 

 according to his account, by leeches, hut by a small 

 insect like a gnat, which frequents the banks of the 

 Nile in great quantities. When the crocodile comes 

 on shore to repose, he is assailed by swarms of these 

 gnats, which get into his mouth in such numbers, 

 that his palate, naturally of a bright yellow 

 colour, appears covered with a blackish-brown crust. 

 Then it is, that this little Plover, which lives on 

 these insects, comes to the aid of the half-choked 

 crocodile, and relieves him of his tormentors; and 

 this without any risk: as the crocodile, before 

 shutting his mouth, takes care, by a preparatory 

 movement, to warn the bird to be off. This singular 

 process is, moreover, not confined to the crocodiles 

 of Egypt; it has been noticed in those of the West 

 Indies, where, when attacked in a similar manner by 

 small flies, call Maringouins, a little bird (Todus 

 viridis\ which lives chiefly on flies and insects, per- 

 forms the same kind office. 



In the above cases, the food of the bird is said to 

 be flies, but there is good reason for believing that 

 perfect reliance may be placed on the account of 

 Herodotus, and that leeches and insects are the 

 objects sought for; as a letter from a gentleman 

 in Calcutta was read at a late meeting of the Lin- 

 naean Society, in London, describing certain leeches 

 which had been taken from the throat of a large 

 alligator (which are also found to infest the throat 

 of the Gigantic Crane, or Hurgila, already men- 

 tioned): these leeches were of various sizes, some 

 exceedingly minute, of a florid red when alive, semi- 



