1 66 
British Birds. 
and in some of the Canary Islands, 
extending to Central Asia and North- 
western India. The nest is a slight 
depression in the sand, and the two 
eggs are scarcely to be told from 
the stones which surround them. 
The eggs are stone-colour, thickly 
covered all over with blackish lines 
and blotches, amongst which are 
mingled the underlying grey mott- 
lings ; their length is from an inch- 
and-a-quarter to an inch-and-a-half. 
The long 
wings and forked The Pratincole. 
tail distinguish 
the Pratincoles from the Coursers, and they have much shorter 
legs than the last-named birds. The general colour is brown, but the throat is 
sandy buff followed by a collar of white and black. The Pratincole has occurred 
several times in England and Scotland, and once in Ireland. It nests in the 
countries of Southern Europe and winters in Africa. The flight is very much like 
that of a Swallow or a Tern, and the birds are gregarious at all times of the year, 
and nest in companies, sometimes of many thousands. The eggs are laid on the 
bare ground, and are so thickly scribbled over with black that the light ground- 
colour is scarcely perceptible; they measure about an inch-and-a-quarter in length. 
THE 
PRATINCOLE. 
(Glarcola pratincola. 
The Golden Plover. 
THE 
GREY PLOVER, 
(i Squatavola 
lielvetica.) 
Of the 
Plovers 
which put 
on a black 
breast in 
the summer, the Grey 
Plover is the largest, and 
it is easily distinguished 
by its grey plumage, mott- 
led with black. In winter 
the black breast disappears, 
and the under surface of 
the body is white ; the 
young birds are also white 
below, but are spangled 
with golden colour above, 
so that they resemble the 
The Grey Plover. 
