American Museum of Natural History. 
CROCODILE BIRDS (Hoplopterus spinosus, Pluvianus aegyptus, Caetusia leu- 
CURa). Also called Plovers. Length: 1 foot. Range: Southern Europe and Africa. 
Walking unafraid into the jaws of the crocodile, these plovers pick his 
teeth for particles of food and leeches. They also warn their host of approach¬ 
ing danger by flying off noisily and so awakening the sluggish reptile. In their 
native tropics they sit over their eggs not to keep them warm, but to protect 
them from the terrific heat of the midday sun. 
not to impart her warmth but rather to shield them from the extreme heat 
of the African sun. The mother bird will often run down to the water, wet 
her breast feathers and return to the nest to cool and moisten the hot sand 
around the eggs. Trespassers, even other plovers, are not tolerated on the 
breeding ground. The zic-zac attempts to distract interlopers by running 
about and settling down on the sand in many different places. Sometimes 
in the presence of danger the parent birds protect their chicks by throwing 
sand over them with their beaks, burying them to a considerable depth. 
Another claimant to the title of crocodile bird is the Egyptian spur¬ 
winged lapwing, a related plover, so-called from the sharp, jet black spur 
in the crook of its wing. With this spur it sometimes attacks smaller birds. 
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