222 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



flocks of immature non-breeding birds keep mostly 

 together. The bird does not breed in colonies, but in 

 scattered pairs. In the Canary Islands (where Mr. 

 Meade Waldo [Ibis, 1893, p. 203] states that in 1891 

 about a thousand eggs of this bird were taken at 

 Fuerteventura) and on the deserts of North Africa, 

 the Cream-coloured Courser makes no nest, laying 

 its eggs amongst small stones, or in a slight hollow 

 in the sandy ground. In India, however, according 

 to Hume, the nest is occasionally placed on stubble, 

 or near a tuft of grass, under a bush, or amongst 

 jungle, and is a hollow about five inches across and 

 two inches deep, sometimes lined with a little dry 

 grass. This different mode of nesting appears to have 

 some effect on the colour of the eggs, those from India 

 being much darker than those from Africa. The nests 

 are extremely difficult to find, the bird slipping off at 

 the first alarm, and going straight away, leaving the 

 Qggi to the safety which their protective colours ensure. 

 Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Cream-coloured Courser are usually 

 two, and very rarely three in number. They are pale 

 buff in ground colour, spotted, blotched, and freckled 

 with buffish-brown, and marbled with underlying mark- 

 ings of gray. They are rotund in form, and smooth in 

 texture. Average measurement, i*2 inch in length, by 

 vo inch in breadth. Incubation is performed by the 

 female, but the duration of the period is undetermined. 

 Diagnostic characters : The size, form, and colour 

 of the eggs of the Cream-coloured Courser prevent 

 them being confused with those of any other European 

 bird. We are not in possession of sufficient information 

 and material to say whether the eggs of this Courser 

 can be distinguished from those of the allied species, 

 and if so, in what manner. 



