The COLLARED PRATINCOLE (_Glareola pratincola_) is a beautiful bird, about ten inches long and twenty-two inches and a half broad, with the wing measuring seven inches, and the tail, at the centre of the fork, two inches and a half. The upper portions of the body are greyish brown, the wings, lower breast, and under side white; the reddish yellow throat is encircled by a brown ring, and the head is brownish grey; the tail-feathers and quills are tipped with black. The eye is dark brown, the beak black, with bright red corners, and the foot blackish brown. The male and female are almost alike in size. This bird inhabits Northern Africa, and the countries watered by the Don, the Volga, and the Caspian and Black Seas; and although it periodically visits France, is rarely seen in Great Britain. Everywhere it occupies the margins of rivers and lakes, equally frequenting the vicinity of fresh and salt water. The Collared Pratincole flies with great ease and swiftness, and indulges in a variety of graceful evolutions whilst on the wing; upon the ground its walk, though rapid, is seldom prolonged, and every step is accompanied by a constant whipping with the tail. Its food consists principally of aquatic insects, but it seizes its prey with equal facility on land, from the surface of the water or in the air; indeed, it is not uncommon to see one of these active little birds dart to a height of several feet into the air, in order to seize a passing fly. It consumes locusts in great numbers, and, according to Jules Verreaux, is often to be found in the track of the hosts of these creatures that are met with in Southern Africa. The nest consists of a slight hollow in the ground, lined with fibres and blades of grass; the eggs, four in number, have a yellowish brown or greenish grey shell, spotted with grey, and variously marked with light brown and deep black. So great is the attachment of these Pratincoles for their mates and young that we are told, should one of a pair be shot, the other at once runs to its companion's side in utter disregard of its own safety. If the little family are intruded on, the parents frequently feign to be wounded, or by other devices entice the enemy from the nest. The helpless young, if alarmed, crouch to the ground, and are with difficulty detected, owing to the earthy colour of their downy feathers; they grow very rapidly, and soon attain the plumage of the adult birds. * * * * *