320 
COLLARED PRATINCOLE. 
which was wholly of flies, of which its stomach was 
full and Mr. Yarrell has recorded, on the autho- 
rity of a son of Mr. Drummond Hay, that the habits 
of the Pratincole “ corresponded closely with those 
of our plovers, frequenting sandy plains, flying and 
running with great rapidity ; forming a slight nest 
in any accidental depression in the dry soil, and lay- 
ing four eggs.” 
In a continental specimen, the plumage above is 
of a dark hair-brown colour, tinted with a greenish 
metallic lustre. This passes across the breast, hav- 
ing there a yellower tint, or appears nearly as wood- 
brown; the upper tail-coverts are white; the quills 
brownish-black, the shaft of the first broad and yel- 
lowish-white. The throat and fore part of the neck 
ochreous, bounded and separated from the colour of 
the upper parts by a narrow line of black, arising 
from the anterior angle of each eye, and passing as 
a collar above the wood-brown of the breast ; belly, 
vent, and under tail-coverts, white. The axillary 
feathers deep orange-coloured brown ; the tail, which 
is forked to the extent of two inches, is white at the 
base ; the centre feathers almost wholly black, the 
ends of the others being blackish-brown, the white 
increasing in extent on every feather towards the 
outside. Bill black, lips or edges of the rictus red- 
dish-orange*. In the young birds the feathers above 
are edged with a paler tint, and the dark colour is 
less distinct. We have no information whether a 
partial seasonal change takes place. 
* Bullock. 
