GLAREOLID.E. 261 



Order L IMI C L 53 . Family GL AREOLID.E. 



283. Glareola pratincola (Linnaeus). The Pratincole. 



Moorish. Gharrak (Favier), Harrak-diad (Drummond - Hay, 

 P. Z. S. 1840). Spanish. Canastela. 



Favier's notes on the Pratincole are confined to remarking 

 " that it arrives from the south and passes to Europe during the 

 month of April, being observed returning thence in September 

 to join those which have remained near Tangier for the breeding- 

 season. All disappear south for the winter months." 



We found this bird in April, on the dried mud at the lakes of 

 Meshree el Haddar, south of Larache, in countless thousands. 

 They had not then begun to lay; so possibly some of these 

 swarms would pass on northwards. We there witnessed a 

 number of these birds mobbing a Marsh-Harrier which had 

 intruded on their ground, buffeting and bullying him just as 

 Peewits will do when a Hawk passes near their breeding-ground. 

 At times at least a hundred Pratincoles were dashing at once 

 about the Hairier, which soon made its best way out of their 

 district. Pratincoles are very crepusculine in their habits, 

 flitting up and down over the surface of a river or a pool much 

 after the manner of the Indian Skimmer (Ehynchops albicollis) 

 very late in the evening as late, indeed, as they can be 

 distinguished. They are then silent, but by day, especially 

 when disturbed, their cry is ceaseless ; and the Moorish name 

 given by Favier is doubtless derived from, as it is suggestive of, 

 their note. They are generally very tame and fearless, often 

 allowing one to approach within a few yards, and are birds of 

 very powerful flight, reminding one much of the Terns in this 

 respect. 



On the south side of the Straits the Pratincole is found in 

 large numbers wherever there are lagoons, which, drying up in 



