415 



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to Dr. Th. von Heuglin, at Dahalak, and on the coast of Abyssinia. Mr. Jesse obtained one in 

 Abyssinia ; and Mr. Blanford says that he " obtained two specimens at Rairo, in Habab, at 

 about 1000 feet above the sea, on a grassy plain far from any water. There is no question but 

 that Eiippeli's species was founded on a young bird." Mr. C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake, in his contri- 

 butions to the ornithology of Tangier and Eastern Morocco, says that it was " occasionally seen 

 at Martine ;" the various authors on the ornithology of Algeria all agree in its being common 

 there; and Canon Tristram (Ibis, 1860, p. 79) says it is "extremely abundant whether near 

 marshes or lakes. Found at Ain el Ibel, Western Algeria, in October, and breeding in the same 

 district in June, as well as the following year throughout the eastern district." 



According to Dr. Hartlaub it has been met with at Senegal, Gambia, and on the Gold Coast, 

 and it has been met with as far south as Natal. Mr. J. H. Gurney (Andersson's Birds of Damara 

 Land, p. 265) says that he has not seen a specimen from Damara Land ; " but I find," he says, 

 " by one of the MSS. left by Mr. Andersson, that of two Pratincoles contained in a collection of 

 Damara birds sent by him to London for identification, one was ascertained to be an example of 

 Glareola nordmanni, and the other an adult of the present species. This and an example received 

 by myself from Natal are the only two well-authenticated instances of the occurrence of this 

 Pratincole in Southern Africa which have come to my knowledge. Mr. Andersson alludes to 

 this species in his MS. notes, and also in his notes contributed to the Appendix to Chapman's 

 'Travels,' p. 415, as not being uncommon at Lake Ngami; but I believe he intended these 

 remarks to refer to the preceding species \_G. melanoptera], as at the time he made them he 

 seems not to have been aware of the distinction between these two nearly allied Pratincoles, 

 although he subsequently became acquainted with the differences between them." 



To the eastward the present species certainly occurs as far as India, as Mr. Blyth (Ibis, 1867, 

 p. 163) states that it has been obtained both in the Bombay and Madras Presidencies; but as 

 a very closely allied race (Glareola orientalis) is found in Eastern Asia, it is most difficult to 

 trace the exact range of our common Pratincole in that part of the world. De Filippi met 

 with the present species in Persia, at Erivan and Sultanieh; and Mr. Blanford has lent me 

 several specimens for examination, obtained by him in Persia. 



SevertzofF records it as found everywhere in Turkestan, except in the north-eastern districts. 

 It breeds at Chu, Tallas, Susamir, the lower Narin, the Karatau mountains, and the western part 

 of the Thian-shan mountains, along the river Syr-Darja, the Zarevshan valley, and the river 

 Kisil-Cum, and in localities not higher than 10,500 feet above the level of the sea. Dr. G. 

 Eadde (Eeis. Siid. Ost-Sib. pp. 307, 308) states that it has been found in Mongolia, and he found 

 several pairs breeding about 20 versts eastward of Abagaitui, near the broad Urtuiskisch valley. 

 He states that he collected specimens which belonged to the European species ; but he evidently 

 did not know any thing about the distinctions between the present species and G. orientalis, and 

 1 am very doubtful as to whether he did not obtain this latter race. He gives measurements ; but 

 he measures the tail only to the centre, and does not state if it is deeply forked or not. He further 

 states that in Western Siberia he last saw it in the Barabinisk steppe. Glareola orientalis, 

 Leach, the eastern form of the present species, which is found in India, South-eastern Asia, the 

 Malay archipelago, and North Australia, differs from the present species in having a much shorter 

 and less deeply forked tail, the outer feathers being only about one inch longer than the centre 



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