XON-INDIGENOUS BRITISH BIRDS. 221 



Family CHARADRIID/E. Genus Cursorius. 



Sub-family CHAKADRIINAi. 



C R E A M-C OLOURED COURSER. 



Cursorius gallicus {Gmelin). 



(British : Rare abnormal spring and autumn migrant.) 



Number of Broods unknown. Laying season, March to 



August, according to locaHty. 



Breeding area: South-western Pala^arctic region, 

 north-western Oriental region, and north-eastern Ethi- 

 opian region. The Cream-coloured Courser does not 

 breed anywhere in Europe. It does so in the Canary 

 Islands, and thence across Northern Africa from Morocco 

 to Egypt southwards to Kordofan, and possibly Abys- 

 sinia. In Asia it breeds probably throughout Arabia 

 and the trans-Caucasian steppes, in Persia, Afghanistan, 

 Baluchistan, Rajputana, Scinde, and the Punjaub. It 

 is possible that the race known as C. gallicus bogohihovi 

 is the one predominating in some of the latter regions, 

 and that C. somalensis may predominate in Arabia. 



Breeding habits: The Cream-coloured Courser 

 can scarcely be called a migratory bird, except in the 

 Caucasus. It is very bustard-like in its habits, fre- 

 quenting vast arid plains and desert regions, where little 

 or no cover occurs. It is one of the most characteristic 

 birds of the Sahara, living amongst the sand-hills and 

 dunes, either on the borders of the oases or far in the 

 actual desert. The pairing habits of this bird almost 

 exactly resemble those of the Great Bustard. It is 

 monogamous, pairing every season, but as soon as the eggs 

 are laid the males apparently flock by themselves until 

 the young are hatched, when they rejoin their mates, 

 and assist in rearing their offspring. In winter this 

 Courser is even more gregarious, whilst in summer tlic 



