THE BLACK-WINGED PRATINCOLE. 505 



as adult but narrowly tipped light buff or cream not deep olive - 

 brown tipped white or white washed buff as in G. p. pratincola. 



First winter. Male and female. — As adult and only to be dis- 

 tinguished if any juvenile wing-coverts are retained. Black patch 

 in front of eye in male is apparently smaller than in adult, while in 

 female it is ill-defined. The juvenile body-plumage, tail-feathers, 

 wing-quills and wing-coverts are moulted Aug. to Jan. Sometimes 

 some juvenile wing -coverts are retained. 



Measurements and structure. — $ wing 194-210 mm., tail 105.5- 

 117, tarsus 33.5-36.5, bill from feathers 14.5-17.5 (6 measured). 

 $ wing 184-197.5, bill from feathers 12-15 (5 measured). Other 

 structure as in G. p. pratincola but claws shorter and stronger. 



Soft parts. — Bill black, base red ; legs and feet black ; iris 

 dark brown. 



Characters. — No subspecies. Black axillaries and deeply forked 

 tail distinguish G. nordmanni from allied species. 



Breeding-habits. — Apparently resembles Common Pratincole 

 closely in habits, breeding in colonies on mud or sandy -flats and 

 making no nest. Eggs. — Also very similar, 2-3 and not infrequently 

 4, perhaps as a rule less heavily marked. Average of 35 eggs, 32.4 X 

 24.8. Max.: 35.3x25.2 and 35x26. Min. : 28x24.8 and 33.1 X 

 23.3 mm. Breeding -season. — Mostly in second half May. No 

 reliable details of incubation. Single brooded. 



Food. — Insects, very largely orthoptera (grasshoppers and 

 locusts). 



Distribution. — England. — Eight. One Romney Marsh (Kent), 

 May 30, 1903 (ut supra). One same place, June 17, and one Rye 

 (Sussex), June 18, 1903 (Boyd Alexander, Bull, B.O.C., xiv, p. 17). 

 One near Northallerton (Yorks.) Aug. 17, 1909 (R. Fortune, Nat., 

 1909, p. 372). One April 30, two May 1, one May 3, 1913, near 

 Rye (Sussex), (H. W. Ford-Lindsay, Brit. B., vn, p. 23). 



Distribution. — Abroad. — South Russian steppes and Dobrogea 

 together with G. pratincola pratincola, north to west Siberia. 

 Formerly in Hungary. Winters in west and south Africa. Casual 

 Bulgaria, Italy, Sicily. 



Family CHARADRIIDiE. 



Nostrils typically schizorhine. Basi-pterygoid processes 

 present. Cervical vertebrae 15. Shape of bill, nostrils, feet, etc. 

 very variable, from long slender bills of Numenius and Limosa, 

 Gallinago, etc., to short, thick ones of Charadrius, etc. Eggs 

 spotted. Mostly inhabitants of swampy ground, shores, moors and 

 meadows. Northern species migratory, some over half globe. Not 

 much under 100 species, number of genera admitted by various 

 authors very different, often split up into such small genera from 

 insignificant characters that study is thus greatly hampered. 



