GR ALLiE. 
Ram. GLAREOLIDiE *. 
Bill short, curved, the gape very wide, and the tip compressed. Wings very long. Tail 
short, either forked or even, of 12 feathers. Legs moderately long. Toes short ; hind toe well 
developed. 
Xeck short. Of Swallow-like form. Of crepuscular habit. Sternum with a double emar- 
gination. 
Genus GLAEEOLA. 
Bill short, the culmen somewhat compressed at the base, then slightly elevated and curved 
to the tip ; gape very wide and receding ; nostril oval and capacious. Wings very long, exceeding 
the tail, pointed ; the 1st primary the longest, slightly exceeding the 2nd ; tail broad, emargi- 
nate or forked. Tarsus slender, much longer than the middle toe, reticulated in front ; tibia bare 
for the length of the hind toe and claw. Lateral toes very short and subequal, the outer slightly 
syndactyle , claws straight, the middle one slightly pectinated ; hind toe elevated. 
GLAEEOLA OEIENT ALIS. 
(THE EASTERN SWALLOW-PLOVER.) 
Glareola oriental is, Leach, Trans. Z. S. xiii. p. 132, pi. 13. figs. 1, 2 (1821) ; Kelaart, Pro- 
dromus, Cat. p. 132 (1852); Gould, B. of Austr. vi. pi. 23 (1848) ; Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. 
A. S. B. p. 259 (1849) ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. hi. p. 631 (1864) ; Gould, Handb. B. of Austr. 
ii. p. 245 (1865); Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 403 ; Ball, Str. Feath. 1873, p. 83 ; Hume, 
ibid. 1874, p. 284; Salvadori, Ucc. di Bom. p. 319 (1874); Legge, Str. Feath. 1875,p.371 
(first authenticated record from Ceylon); Hume, Nests and Eggs,iii. p. 568 (1875); Hume 
& Davison, Str. Feath. 1878 (B. of Tenass.), p. 455; Oates, ibid. 1878, vii. p. 49; 
Davidson & Wenden, t. c. p. 88 ; Hume, ibid. 1879, viii. p. 69, et p. 112 (List Ind. B ). 
The Oriental Pratincole, Latham ; Oriental Glareole, Larger Pratincole of some. 
Adult male and female. Length 8-8 to 9-3 inches (outer tail-feathers variable in length); wing 7-4 to 7'5 ; tail 3-0 to 
3- A depth ob ^ 01 ’k t arsus 1‘3 to 1-4 ; bare tibia 0 - 5; middle toe and claw 1-0 to 1-05 ; hind toe and claw 
0-25 to 03 ; bill to gape 0-97 to 1-03 ; expanse (of one with wing of 7 - 5) 22- 0. 
Iris dark brown; bill black, the gape brownish, and the base of lower mandible and margin of upper, from o- a p e to 
nostril, red ; tarsi reddish brown, changing to plumbeous on the feet and tibia. 
Head, upper surface, wings, sides of neck, and the chest brown, palest on the latter, and with a green lustre above 
strongest on the scapulars ; forehead and above the lores slightly darker ; chin, cheeks round the gape, and throat 
u ’ bounded al) round by a black border, with a white inner edge, passing up to the anterior corner of the eye ; 
T ^ e true position of these remarkable birds has been the subject of much discussion. They differ from the 
rest of the Grail* m their Hirundine or Swallow-like aspect and habits, and in their crepuscular disposition recall the 
-Nightjars somewhat. In their anatomy, wing- and leg-structure, general mode of life, and in their nidification they 
are strictly a Plover form. 1 
