484 
PLOVER GROUP. 
purpose, during the dark hours we had a small pit dug on the western side of the 
large sandbank, and about the peep of day the following morning we ensconced 
ourselves in the pit, with the intention of remaining until the crocodiles came on 
to the bank, as we believed they did every day, to bask in the sunshine and sleep. 
We watched patiently until about noon, when two large crocodiles came out of the 
water on to the bank, and apparently were soon asleep. Several crocodile-birds 
commenced flitting over them; and through our field-glasses we watched one bird, 
and saw it deliberately go up to a crocodile, apparently asleep, which opened its 
jaws. The bird hopped in, and the crocodile closed its jaws. In what appeared to 
be a very short time, probably not more than a minute or two, the crocodile 
opened its jaws, and we saw the crocodile-bird go down to the water’s edge. As 
the sandbank was, I should say, at least half a mile across, and the bird’s back 
was turned towards us, we could not see whether it vomited in the water or drank, 
but in the course of a few seconds it returned to the crocodile, which opened its 
mouth again, and the bird again entered. The mouth was closed, and in a short 
time was opened again for the bird to come out, and the same operation was 
repeated at the river bank. We saw the same bird enter the crocodile’s mouth 
three times, and on three occasions run to the water to either vomit or drink. 
Having satisfied our curiosity, and knowing that we could not bag the crocodile, 
and there being two or three crocodile-birds about, I took aim and shot two of 
them. I could not assert positively that I shot the actual bird that we had seen 
go in and out of the crocodile’s mouth, but one of the birds was presented to the 
Leicester Museum, and the other I have in a case at home.” The so-called 
crocodile-bird was subsequently identified with the present species. 
wattled That cordially hated Indian bird the did-he-do-it (so called 
Lapwings. from its cry, which alarms all worthier game in its neighbourhood), 
or red-wattled lapwing (Lobivanellus indicus), may be taken to represent-a large 
group of species inhabiting the warmer parts of the Old World, all of which are 
distinguished from the members of the two preceding genera by the presence of a 
fleshy lobe or wattle between the eye and the beak. Like the other lapwings, 
they may be divided into two groups, according to the number of the toes; the 
four-toed species constituting the genus Lobivanellus, while those in which the 
first toe is absent are separated as Sarciophorus ; the Indian yellow-wattled 
lapwing ( S. bilobus) being a familiar example of the latter group. The red-wattled 
species, frequently termed the bronze-winged mottled lapwing, which may be 
distinguished by the broad white band at the end of the tail, ranges from Southern 
Persia and Baluchistan all over India and Ceylon, where it is one of the commonest 
of birds; while in Gilgit, and probably Kashmir, it occurs only as a summer 
visitor. To the east of the Bay of Bengal it is replaced by a variety differing by 
having a white collar on the back of the neck behind the black of the head and 
fore-neck. As there is nothing particularly noteworthy in the habits of these 
lapwings, we pass on to the consideration of the second subfamily. 
The beautiful, long-legged birds known as stilts and avocets are 
Still uS. * ^ # 
our first representatives of the Totamnce, or second subfamily of the 
group under consideration, all the members of which are characterised by the 
nostrils being situated in the basal fourth of the more or less elongated beak, and 
