542 



"This bird feeds principally upon small aquatic insects and mollusks; and, as is usual in 

 birds whose food is of this character (and, indeed, in many others), the stomach always contains 

 in addition a number of stones to assist digestion." 



Von Heuglin relates a curious Mohammedan legend respecting this bird. Once on a time, 

 they say, Allah held a great asumah (jollification), to which all creatures were invited, and all 

 the animals came except the Spur-winged Plover, which amused itself elsewhere. At last, after 

 a lapse of three days, it put in an appearance, and excused itself by saying that it had been tired 

 out, and fell asleep. But the Creator of all things could look into its false heart, and cursed it 

 for its want of truth, saying to it, "Thou hast not responded to my call, and hast overslept thyself; 

 therefore from this time thou shalt have neither sleep nor rest ;" and straightway two long 

 sharp spikes grew on the shoulders of the bird, which give him continual pain, and prevent him 

 from putting his head under his wing to sleep. 



Dr. Leith Adams believes this species to be the "Trochilos" of Herodotus: but there 

 appears to be no means of arriving at any clear decision as regards the species to which Hero- 

 dotus refers ; and it is usually supposed to be the Black-headed Plover, and not the present bird. 

 Dr. Adams, referring to this question, says (Ibis, 1864, p. 29): — "There appears to me better 

 reason for considering this species the Trochilos of Herodotus than the Black-headed Plover, 

 inasmuch as the well-known narrative of the Greek historian, strange to say, is still current 

 among the Egyptians, and with reference to this bird, which they state, in its capacity of leech- 

 catcher to the crocodile, is sometimes shut up within the jaws of the animal when the latter falls 

 asleep on a sandbank. On such occasions the Zic-zac (from its call) applies his spurs to the 

 interior of the crocodile's mouth, by way of refreshing the memory of the latter that his faithful 

 henchman is within, when the monster's jaws reopen immediately, as if his reptilian majesty was 

 sorry for his obliviousness. This addition to the old story was given me on good authority, as 

 being very generally believed among the Nile boatmen." 



The Spur-winged Plover breeds commonly in Egypt, the nesting-season being in March or 

 April. Von Heuglin says that " the nest consists of a mere depression in the sand islands, dunes, 

 or fallows, and the eggs, three or four in number, resemble those of the common Lapwing, are 

 15-16 lines long and 10-12 broad, and are pear-shaped. They are spotted and blotched, on a 

 greyish olive ground, with olive-brown and sooty blackish, these markings being more thickly 

 spread at the larger end." I possess a series of eggs collected in Egypt by Mr. Cochrane and 

 by Mr. Stafford Allen, which agree with Von Heuglin's description ; but one or two have the 

 ground-colour darker and warmer, it being of a warm dark clay-colour. In size they vary from 

 m by 1-A inch to lfS by 1^ inch. 



The specimen figured is an adult male in full plumage from Egypt. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens : — 



E Mus. R. E. Dresser, 

 a, <$ ad. Boulse, Egypt, March 15th, 1858 (H. B. Tristram), b, 6. Alexandria, Egypt, March 30th, 1864 

 {S. S. Allen) . c. Egypt, December 19th, 1868 {E. C. Taylor) . 



E Mus. G. E. Shelley. 

 a,b. Egypt (G. E. S.). 



