982 GLAEEOLA OEIENTALIS. 



In the peninsula of India I find that Messrs. Davidson and Wenden record it from the Dcccan, the former 

 gentleman having met with it in the river Bhima during the cold season. As future observation renders the 

 distribution of birds more thoroughly known, it will doubtless, from time to time, be found on the banks of 

 various other rivers. Eastwards of the Bay it is a more common bird. Mr. Oates leads us to infer, in writing to 

 Mr. Hume ('Nests and Eggs/ iii.),that it frequents the plains of Pegu in large numbers, and he subsequently 

 found it breeding there. Further south, in Tenasserim, it is, according to Mr. Hume, " confined apparently 

 to the cultivated and open lands of the central portions of the Province and the tracts west of the Sittang." 

 Mr. Davison observes that it is not uncommon- in the Malay peninsula ; and the former gentleman cites 

 Singapore as a locality in which it has been found. In the island of Pcnang, Mr. Wallace has obtained it ; 

 and on the Andamans and Nicobars it was occasionally met with by Mr. Hume and his party in 1873, though 

 it is recorded as by no means plentiful. Southward of Singapore it ranges into Java, where it has been 

 procured by Messrs. Leach and Ilorsfield ; and though we have no record of its occurrence in Sumatra, it is, 

 I think, evident that it must inhabit that island. It has been obtained by various naturalists in different parts 

 of Borneo ; beyond this island it extends through Timor to Australia, to which country, however, according to 

 Mr. Gould, it can only be considered a rare visitant. In his ' Handbook ' he refers to a pair in the collection 

 of Mr. Alexander Macleay, of Sydney, which, it is presumed, were obtained in the northern regions, as 

 subsequently Mr. Ramsay notes it from Port Darwin and Port Essington. 



It has been procured at Bangkok, and doubtless it occurs at other places along the south-east coast of the 

 continent to China, in which empire it is recorded by Swinhoe from Tientsin. It has likewise been observed 

 in Formosa. It ranges into Mongolia, where, according to Prjevalsky, the northern bend of the Hoang-ho 

 forms its limit to the north. He observed it in pairs and small flocks in the valley of this river from the 

 town of Baut as far as the western portion of Muni-ul. 



Habits. — As a Ceylonese bird this fine Pratincole frequents grassy meadows surrounding large sheets of 

 water, and appears to confine itself to particular spots, although at sunset it probably moves about a good 

 deal. I found it on the north side of the Minery Lake and on the west side of Kanthelai tank ; but at each 

 of these sheets of water it had evidently selected the spots I found it in for the purpose of rearing its young. 

 Its ordinary flight is regular, and performed with not very rapid strokes of its pinions, and in its character 

 resembles that of the Terns ; but when hawking for insects, it dashes about, rising and falling, and twisting 

 and turning in a very Swallow-like manner. I first met with it under these circumstances, and was attracted 

 by its nocturnal movements, or I should most likely have passed it over. The scene was eminently character- 

 istic of the wild jungle-regions of Ceylon. I had just been witness to a grand aerial tournament between a 

 splendid pair of Sea-Eagles, which were breeding among the large trees on the colossal retaining bund of the 

 tank, and a Fish-Eagle (Polioaetus ichtky actus), which had evidently been trespassing on the preserves of its 

 majestic relations. After admiring the grand evolutions and swoops of these noble birds, I descended to the grassy 

 plains on the borders of the lake. The place was swarming with animal life : hundreds of cattle were scattered 

 here and there as far as the eye could discern them in the dusk ; little groups of unsightly buffaloes, some tame 

 and some wild, were standing on various little eminences on the shore ; an endless stream of Cormorants were 

 wending their way across the water to some distant roostiug-place ; and, with the same object in view, a small 

 " mob " of Pelicans were leisurely flapping off to the surrounding forests, in which the deep bay of the Sambhur 

 deer could be distinctly heard. Presently my eye caught sight of a bird, then new to me, which was flying 

 about, like a Nightjar, in pursuit of the moths with which the still hot air was swarming. It was the only 

 specimen I saw that evening, and I had considerable difficulty in persuading my native attendant to wade into 

 the lake into which it fell and retrieve it, so alarmed was he of the crocodiles which infested the water. 



At Kanthelai, when I invaded the breeding-grounds of those which were frequenting the meadows on the 

 west side, they flew overhead, crossing and recrossing me in front, but did not pass behind me. They uttered 

 a churi'-Yike note, and also a call of alarm like the " crake" of some small Terns. They once or twice poised 

 themselves in the air over my head, endeavouring to entice me away from their young. These birds were 

 invariably flushed from the ground on which they were reposing, and in no case did I observe them hawking 

 for insects during the heat of the day. They would appear to feed chiefly in the evening, and perhaps also at 

 early morning. The food of those 1 shot consisted of moths, caterpillars, and beetles, chiefly the latter. 



