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GLAREOLA LACTEA, Temm.

Cinereous Pratincole.

Glareola lactea, Temm. Man. d’Orn., 2nd. edit. tom. i. p. 503.—Id. P] Col. 399 Blyth, Cat. of Birds i M
, : | O . : i ) 5 rds in Us.
Asiat. Soc Calcutta, p. 259.—G. In, Ghiny, Con, of Birds, vol. iii, Pp. 538, Glareola, sp. 6.—Jerd.

Birds of India, vol. ii. part ii. p. 632.—Gray, List of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part. iii

Gallina, &c., p. 62.

ortentalis, Jerd. in Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci.

Galachrysia lactea, Bonap. Compt. Rend. de l’Acad. Sci.

Cinereous Pratincole, Lath., Gen. Hist., vol. ix. p. 365.

Cream-coloured Pratincole, Griff. Anim. Kin
Utteran of the Scindians.

» VOl. xii. p. 215.
» tom. xiii. séance du 2 aout 1856.

gd., vol. viii: p. 543, pl. 49.

 

Tuis is one of the smallest species of a very isolated group of birds peculiar to the Old World, the by no
means numerous members of which are very widely distributed.

Europe is tenanted by two, India by three,
Australia by two, and Africa by about the same number.

In their habits and economy they are all very
Swallow-like, as they also are in some parts of their structure. They hawk for insects in the air, but, unlike
the Swallows, run nimbly over the ground ; on the ground, too, they deposit their four speckled eggs, a
circumstance which closely allies them to the Grallatores ; and it is doubtless for this reason that the majority
of naturalists place them in that order.

The Glareola lactea, besides being one of the smallest species of the genus, 18 also one of the most
aerial of them ; for it spends much of its time in the air, hunting for its insect food over streams and marshy
places, for which its structure is well adapted, its wings being ample, its neck short, its feet diminutive.
It appears to be distributed over, and stationary in, all parts of India; that country must therefore be
regarded as its headquarters. Mr. Jerdon and other writers give some details respecting its breeding, but
do not say if the young are capable of running immediately after they are excluded from the egg, or if they
are helpless, like the young of Insessorial birds ; a knowledge of this particular is very desirable, as it would
tend to show the true position of the species in our systems.

This bird is figured in the drawings of the late Hon. F. J. Shore, from a specimen killed by him at
Luckurghat, with the following note :—

“This bird, which is called Awnyiu by the boatmen at this place, is not seen during the rains; its
manners and appearance are that of a Swallow, but its legs are like those of a Sandpiper. I saw some
hundreds skimming over the Ganges, but only shot one. In February 1829 I observed numbers on the
river between Futtighur and Allahabad.” -

The following is Mr. Jerdon’s account, which I take the liberty of transcribing :— .

“The small Swallow-Plover occurs throughout the greater part of the country, and vey a in
some localities, especially near large rivers. Now and then ree parties are seen hawking ee the ie
and fields ; but it prefers hunting up and down the banks of rivers, pic sandy ee a : ae ks.
In localities where they abound, vast parties may be seen ay evening after sunset ae a ong E it a
certain direction, and capturing insects as they fly. They live entirely on a me ee in the
air, in many cases Coleoptera. Several which I examined had pantie oe : be oe a

“T found them breeding at Thyetmyo, in Upper Burmah, with ae young ie a a sa a ae
Brooks, Civil Engineer, of Mirzapore, informs me that he found their ce q ‘oe a - i.
place. The parents endeavoured to entice him away from their nests, just. like < :

ms S.

: Se ree Tee a quarter of an
about one inch on the central feathers, diminishing a ae and the inner web of the last four or five
with white; primaries brown, the first four with white shafts, and the

3 >

; ; reast pale brownish grey; chest
hit ith b tips ; spurious wing dark brown; chin, throat, and breast p ‘ bill = i
white, with brown tips ; g ee ed ts. browal billlblacleneane
ich b ff; abd and under tail-coverts white ; axillaries and under wing-cover d eel
rich Dull; abdomen e

i ite; iri ‘k brown; legs dusky green.
op Lee ed orbits white; irides dark ;
a except that the lower p

inch on the outer ones, and tipped

I o ‘k 1 Peak c d S rotted
f he young are very similar to the ad ults,

| : Be er ie ent t of t l sl a id a young bird of the year, considerably reduced.
 ¢ the natural size, ar , 5 )
The Plate repr sents an adul oO