156 
THE PLOVER. 
( Charadrius JEgyptiacus ), which sometimes enters 
the mouth of the crocodile, attracted thither, not, 
according to his account, by leeches, but by a small 
insect like a gnat, which frequents the banks of the 
Nile in great quantities. When the crocodile comes 
on shore to repose, he is assailed by swarms of these 
gnats, which get into his mouth in such numbers, 
that his palate, — naturally of a bright yellow 
colour, appears covered with a hlackish-brown crust. 
Then it is, that this little Plover, which lives on 
these insects, comes to the aid of the half-choked 
crocodile, and relieves him of his tormentors ; and 
this without any risk : as the crocodile, before 
shutting his mouth, takes care, by a preparatory 
movement, to warn the bird to he off. This singular 
process is, moreover, not confined to the crocodiles 
of Egypt ; it has been noticed in those of the West 
Indies, where, when attacked in a similar manner by 
small flies, called Maringouins, a little bird ( Todus 
viridis ), which lives chiefly on flies and insects, per- 
forms the same kind office. 
In the above cases, the food of the bird is said to 
be flies, but there is good reason for believing that 
perfect reliance may be placed on the account of 
Herodotus, and that leeches and insects are the 
objects sought for ; as a letter from a gentleman 
in Calcutta was read at a late meeting of the Lin- 
naean Society, in London, describing certain leeches 
which had been taken from the throat of a large 
alligator (which are also found to infest the throat 
of the Gigantic Crane, or Hurgila, already men- 
tioned) : these leeches were of various sizes, some 
exceedingly minute, of a florid red when alive, semi- 
