'Z TALLAtSS I'HATINCOLE. 



Sptrifw Characters. — The under wing coverts of a uniform 

 smoky black. Length (French measure) nine inches six lines; 

 wings three inches eight lines; external tail feathers three inches 

 eight lines; middle tail feathers two inches three lines; tarsus 

 one inch five lines; middle toe eight lines; claw of middle toe 

 three lines; beak from gape ten lines; depth of two mandibles, 

 thi'ough the nostrils, two lines and a half. — Schlegel. 



This bird, whicli is considered specifically distinct 

 from tlie Pratincole of the British lists, is found in 

 Greece and Bessarabia more plentifully than its congener. 

 According to Pallas, who first described the species in 

 his "Zoography," it is very common from April to the 

 autumn in the deserts of Tartary, from the Volga to 

 the Irtin. 



Schlegel, in his "Eevue," p. 91, gives a lengthened 

 account of this bird, in which he says it is at once 

 distinguished from G. pratincola (Linnaeus) by the fol- 

 lowing characters: — The beak is thinner, shorter, and 

 curved; the tarsi are longer, and the toes shorter; the 

 tail is shorter, and it only has the extremities of the 

 elongated feathers black; the throat is white, and the 

 wings underneath are of a uniform smoky black, while 

 in G. pratincola these parts are of a lively russet brown. 

 This latter characteristic led Professor Nordmann to 

 call it Glareola melanoptera, which Fischer tried to 

 improve by converting into G. nordmann. 



This bird is evidently a local race, or permanent 

 variety, like many others which I have been called 

 upon to treat of in this work. Pallas tells us that it 

 is always found in small flocks, congregating more 

 numerously after the breeding-season. It never frequents 

 water, but is always found in arid (especially salt) 

 plains, where it seeks grylla) and other insects. 



