LAPWINGS. 
483 
spur-winged lapwing (Hoplopterus armatus), which breeds in the valley of the 
Nile, in Senegambia, and probably also in the intervening districts of Central 
Africa, migrating in the spring to Palestine and some parts of South- 
Eastern Europe. It has large spurs, and may be distinguished from its allies 
by the greater wing-coverts being white, and the lesser ones brown; and it is 
also unique in having, when adult, the crown of the head, forehead, nape, chin, 
throat, breast, flanks, and legs, black. This bird is extremely common in Egypt 
and Nubia, where it frequents the banks of lakes, rivers, and canals, as well as 
marshes and swamps. The chief interest connected with this species is that it 
EGYPTIAN SPUR-WINGED LAPWING nat. size). 
appears to be the bird alluded to by Herodotus as being in the habit of entering 
the open mouths of crocodiles for the purpose of feeding. For a long time it was 
considered that the black-backed courser was the bird in question, and that the 
whole story was a myth. The late Dr. Leith Adams gave, however, good reasons 
for regarding the zic-zac (as this bird is called by the natives) as being really 
the kind alluded to, while the recent observations of Mr. J. M. Cook strongly 
confirm the original story. The narrative of the latter gentlemen, in a somewhat 
condensed form, is as followsEarly in 1876,” he writes, “I was on the Nile, 
between the first and second cataracts, and noticed on a large sandbank some 
crocodiles of considerable size, and several of the birds which are called by all the 
natives the crocodile-bird. As we had plenty of time, I decided that we would 
spend a few hours in watching the crocodiles and the crocodile-birds. For this 
