Order VII. GRALLiE. 



Family I. Chakadriad^e. 



The third Subfamily, 



GLAREOLINiE, or Pratincoles, 



have a short Bill, which is broad at the base, and laterally compressed to the tip ; the "Wings very long, 

 with the first quill the longest ; the Legs moderate, with the tip of the tibia naked ; the Toes three in 

 front, and one posteriorly, which is elevated. 



Glareola Briss* 



Bill short, broad at the base, much compressed to the tip, with the culmen depressed at the base, 

 elevated and arched to the tip, the lateral margins curved ; the nostrils basal, lateral, and oblique. 

 Wings lengthened, pointed, extending beyond the end of the tail, with the first quill longest. Tail 

 moderate, and more or less forked. Legs moderate and slender, with the tarsi scutellated, and the 

 middle toe and claw lengthened ; the outer toe longer than the inner, and united at the base to the 

 middle one; the hind toe very short, elevated, but touching the ground; and the claws rather long, 

 nearly straight, that of the middle toe slightly pectinated on one side. 



These few species inhabit the temperate and warmer parts of the Old World. They frequent the borders of rivers, 

 lakes, and marshes, both in the plains and on the mountains. Their food consists chiefly of worms, flies, orthopterous 

 and aquatic insects, which they take on the wing like the swallows, and on the ground, where tliey can run very 

 quickly. They form a slight nest on the surface of the ground, among the rushes and thick herbage in the marshes, 

 wherein they deposit several eggs. 



1 . G. pratincola (Linn.) Pall. Pl.enl. 882. — Glareola austriaca 

 Gmel. Leach, Linn. Tr. xiii. pi. 12. ; Glareola naevia Gmel; Glareola 

 senegalensis Gmel. ; Glareola torquata Meyer. 



2. G. Nordmanni Fisch. — Glareola pratincola Pall. 



3. G. limbata Rupp. 



4. G.orientalis Leach, Linn.Tr.xiii.pl. 13. 



5. G. Isabella Vieill. Gal. des Ois. t. 263. — Glareola grallaria 

 Temm. ; Glareola australis Leach, Linn. Tr. xiii. pi. 1 4. 



6. G. lactea Temm. Man. ii. 503., PI. col. 399. 



7. G. cinerea Fras. Proc. Z. S. 1 843. 26. 



Brisson established this genus in (Ornithologie) 1?60; and in 1777 Scopoli proposed Trachelia. 



May, 1844. 



