CENTRITES NIGER 67 



in one's daily life. It plainly manifests attachment for man. 

 Walking or riding, it is usually in attendance, flitting from 

 grass tuft to grass tuft, snapping at insects, and flying on by 

 short stretches to keep pace. Occasionally I have observed it 

 pecking at scraps of meat in the neighbourhood of houses. 



The life habits are thus described by Azara : — " Vuela 

 con ligereza, es pronta en sus movimientos, corre con celeridad, y 

 la he visto coger moscas en el suelo y en el ayre dando vuelitos 

 como de una vara. Alguna vez se posa en las varillas, y casi 

 siempre en el suelo ; prefiriendo lo limpio, como son caminos, 

 corrales, patios grandes y orillas de lagunas. Lo he visto 

 solo, a pares, y en bandadas de hasta 30." 



D'Orbigny says : — " Elle pref^re soit les sentiers battus, 

 soit les ornieres, oil tantot elle court avec Vitesse, tantot marche 

 gravement, sans jamais s'inqui^ter des personnes qui s'approchent 

 d'elle." 



Darwin says : — " It is everywhere common ; it is a quiet, 

 tame, inoft'ensive little bird ; it lives on the ground, and frequents 

 sand dunes, beaches, and rocky coasts which it seldom leaves ; 

 the broad shingly beds of the rivers in Chili have, however, 

 tempted it inland, together with Opetiorhyncus.^^ 



Previous accounts of its breeding habits, and descriptions 

 of the egg, are at variance. 



According to Darwin, " it builds in low bushes." Oustalet 

 describes the nest obtained by Sauvinet as "place sur le sol, 

 entre des chaumes, et ses parois, assez epaisses et faites de lichens 

 et de racines entrelaces, etaient tapiss^es interieurement avec 

 des plumes parmi lesquelles j'ai reconnu facilement des plumes 

 de Bernaches." 



All the nests I have seen have been sunk in depressions 

 in the ground, in one case under a bush in addition. 

 I obtained three nests containing respectively four, three, and 

 four eggs. A fourth nest, containing young and one addled 

 Qgg^ was not preserved. The nests I have vary somewhat in 

 material, also in massiveness of structure : the first is entirely 



