62 On the Occurrence of Nordmann’s Pratincole in Italy. 
is like the head, or scarcely darker, and there is only a very 
narrow black line on the lores, generally quite obsolete; 
sometimes only a small black patch on the fore part of the 
eye is observed. 
Glareola melanoptera has never appeared before in Italy, 
but Prof. Giglioli has included it among those species 
which might possibly occur in our subregion. It inhabits, 
according to Sharpe, S.E. Europe, especially the Volga and 
the lowlands of the Caucasus, as far west as the Dobrudscha, 
and even Hungary, wintering in Africa. I have seen two fine 
specimens of this Pratincole, killed at Sistova (Bulgaria), 
in the Museum of Sarajevo. 
G. melanoptera is the larger bird; I give herewith the 
measurements :— 
G. melanoptera : total length 9*3 inches, culmen 075, wing 
7*4, tail 4‘3, tarsus 1*5. 
G. pratincola : total length about 9 inches, culmen 0*72, 
wing 7‘4, tail 4*5, tarsus 1*3. 
Glareola pratincola is mostly a bird of passage in Italy, 
more usually found in southern localities during the spring. 
It breeds in Sicily in the marshes of Catania, Girgenti, and 
Syracuse, and even in Tuscany. In Northern Italy it is a 
straggler, while in autumn it is generally uncommon every¬ 
where. 
I have seventeen specimens of it in my collection from the 
following places :—- 
a-d. Semi-ad., April 1st, 1890 ; $ 6 and $, May 16th and 21st, 1896, 
Padua. 
e y. <5, May 15th, 1895, May 9th and 18th, 1896, Venetia. 
h, i. , May 2nd, 1888, May 7th, 1893, Lonigo (Vicenza). 
k. Young, August 22nd, 1892, on the River Po, near Turin. 
l. $, May 18th, 1898, Verona. 
m. n. cf $ ? Hay 11th, 1897, Massaciuccoli Lake (Tuscany). 
o. $, May 6th, 1894, Elba Island (Tuscany). 
p. (5, May 10th 1896, Bari (Puglie). 
q. <5, May 12th, 1894, Sicily. 
r. $, May 9th, 1891, Sardinia. 
Ca’oddo, near Monselice, Padua, Italy, 
October 14th, 1899, 
