404 



4 



Dr. Anton Fritsch says that it breeds near Prague, and in all probability near Raudnitz and 

 Laun, as he met with it there late in the summer. The Hitter von Tschusi-Schmidhofen records 

 it from Austria ; and it is stated to breed in Styria. Messrs. Danford and Harvie-Brown speak 

 of it as being very rare in Transylvania. It has, they write (Ibis, 1875, p. 419), " occurred at 

 Alvincz, also on the Maros and in the Hatzeg valley. Herr Otto records one, obtained at 

 Szent Miklos, on September 23rd, 1867. It was struck down by a Sparrow-Hawk." Messrs. 

 Elwes and Buckley met with it on one occasion only in Bulgaria, near Shitangik, late in April ; but 

 I have no record of its occurrence elsewhere in Turkey in Europe — though Dr. Kriiper says that 

 it is resident in Greece and Asia Minor, for it occasionally breeds there, and remains over winter. 

 It winters on the Cyclades, and is stated to be common on the Ionian Islands, and to breed 

 numerously in Crete. In Southern Russia it is very numerous in some localities; Professor von 

 Nordmann states that large numbers breed near Odessa, where it arrives late in March or early 

 in April, and leaves in October ; and there is a specimen in the Berlin Museum from the Ural. 

 In Asia Minor, as above stated, it is said to be resident; and Canon Tristram states that he 

 obtained both bird and eggs near Jericho, in Palestine, and also observed it on the sand-dunes 

 near Beersheba. 



In Africa it appears to be confined chiefly to the northern portion of the continent. Captain 

 Shelley writes (B. of Egypt, p. 230) that it is " plentiful throughout Egypt and Nubia, in pairs 

 and families, affecting the more desert spots in the neighbourhood of small bushes, in pre- 

 ference to the cultivated fields, while they are occasionally met with on the sandbanks of the 

 river. On the first approach of danger they crouch close to the ground — and when pursued, 

 usually fly only for a short distance, and then run with considerable fleetness." Von Heuglin 

 states that it visits Egypt and Nubia regularly during the winter, and he met with it in Kordofan 

 and Abyssinia, and believes that he saw it in the Somali country. In the northern portion of 

 the country he visited, a Stone-Curlew which, he states, is certainly the present species is 

 resident ; and he adds it is resident as far south as Assouan, and he met with it now and again 

 on the coasts of the Red Sea. 



Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., remarks (Rambl. Nat. p. 200) that at Damietta he observed the 

 present species perching on the roof of an old building. In Algeria, according to Loche, it is 

 resident, and generally distributed in suitable localities; he took its eggs in July in the plains 

 of Chelif ; and Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., obtained it late in February. Mr. O. Salvin met with it 

 constantly in the lake-districts; and Mr. L. Taczanowski writes (J. f. O. 1870, p. 52) that it is 

 " common in the desert. This bird which is so wary with us, gets confused at the sight of 

 sporting Falcons and does not try to fly away, but allows itself to be approached, when it lifts its 

 wings and calls out very loudly. It defends itself, however, very bravely with its beak, and 

 cleverly avoids the attacks of the Falcon." Colonel Irby speaks of it as being resident in 

 Tangier, where it appears to be by no means uncommon ; and it is recorded from the Canaries 

 and Madeira. Mr. Godman writes of it (Ibis, 1872, p. 220): — " Said to be found in all the 

 Canary islands. I found it tolerably abundant on a plain near the sea to the eastward of Port 

 Orotava, in Teneriffe, where it breeds. Vernon Harcourt gives it in his list of stragglers in 

 Madeira on Mr. Lowe's authority." 



In Asia it is found throughout India down to Ceylon in suitable localities, but does not 



