By the Rev. A. C. Smith. 



47 



remarkable for their sharpness : indeed, I fear we must own them 

 to be the perfection of all that is dull, heavy, and ignorant ; no 

 wonder then that a bird so very rapid in its movements as the 

 collared pratincole should soon elude the slow gaze of the heavy- 

 eyed Argus, and that on Mr. Hussey's return, in answer to his 

 enquiries as to the whereabouts of the strange bird, he should be 

 met with the provoking reply — " Doant knaw, zur, he flee'd away 

 so terrible sudden that I could'n zee 'en nowhere, I could 'n : I 

 never zee sech a bird to flee." Upon this, it may be supposed 

 that Mr. Hussey walked on somewhat disappointed, when, in a 

 moment, at the distance of about thirty yards, up sprang the bird, 

 and was darting off at a prodigious rate, but a well-aimed shot laid 

 it dead on the ground. On picking it up, the long wings and 

 forked tail caused Mr. Elussey and others to suppose it to belong 

 to the Swallow tribe; and the dull-eyed shepherd, seeing no bril- 

 liant hues in the dead bird, as if to excuse his slowness, exclaimed 

 with a sneer of contempt, "Well, zur, 'taint much of a bird, arter 

 all, I'm zure." In addition to the above narrative, Mr. Hussey 

 tells me that " the land on which I found the bird, was a stiff clay 

 soil. I shot it close to the sheep-fold, where there were sheep 

 feeding off turnips ; the bird appeared to be rather tame, but 

 whether from exhaustion or nature, I cannot tell." 



The home of the Pratincole seems to be the steppes of Tartary 

 and the central parts of Asia ; but when we look at its marvellous 

 length of wing and deeply-forked tail, we are prepared to find that 

 it is of frequent occurrence in southern Europe, as well as northern 

 Africa, vast distances being soon traversed by a bird of such enor- 

 mous powers of flight. It can also run rapidly on the ground, 

 and it catches its insect prey on foot as well as on the wing. Its 

 prevailing colour is dove-brown above, and buff and white below ; 

 and its distinguishing mark whence it derives its specific name, is 

 a collar or crescent of black, which in a narrow line encircles its 

 throat to the eyes. 



" Cream-coloured Courser." ( Cursorius isabellinus.) It is some- 

 what strange that the second species of this famil} T should also 

 have occurred in Wiltshire, inasmuch as it is one of the very rarest 



