260 BIRDS OF EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 



Pluvianus segyptius (L.). Crocodile Plover. 



r^ 9 Above slate grey ; crown, face, back, scapulars, and 

 pectoral band greenish black ; superciliary stripes (continued 

 round occiput and meeting) and a broad band across quills white ; 

 underparts salmon buff, axillaries and under wing coverts white. 

 Bill black. Legs and feet light greyish blue. Wing 127-140. 

 Tarsus 32-35. Bill 17-20 (H.). 



Resident. — Ranges across Central Africa east to west and Nile 

 Valley north to Cairo. 



CURSORIUS. 



Bill about as long as head and considerably curved ; no 

 hind toe; middle toe very long and its claw pectinated; 

 inhabit arid and sandy country, gregarious, wary, swift runners; 

 when alarmed, squat like Stone Curlew; colour protective; 

 insectivorous ; nest on ground, eggs dull stone buff, marbled 

 and spotted with pale purplish grey and dull reddish brown. 



Cursorius gallicus gallicus (Gmelin). Courser. Fr. 

 Courvite ; Ital. Corrione biondo. 



$ 2 adult. Reddish sandy ; occiput grey, line behind eye 

 white and one below it black, both meeting on nape ; under 

 wings black (conspicuous in flight). Bill black, lighter below at 

 base. Legs and feet china white. Wing 150-165. Tarsus 56-58. 

 Bill 21-23. Young: sandy coloured throughout with angular 

 black markings on upper parts. 



Resilient. — N.W. Africa, chiefly south of Atlas, and through 

 Sahara to Egypt ; Canary Islands ; also through S.W. Asia to 

 India. Wanders to Europe, even north to Britain, Denmark, and 

 Finland, but more frequent in south. 



Glareola. 



Bill short, bent above; hind toe present, middle claw 

 pectinated; tail forked; flight Swallow-like; inhabit sandy 

 wastes, but also marshes and inland waters ; gregarious : run 

 well; food, insects, often caught on wing; eggs laid on 

 ground, ochreous to pale slate, spotted and blotched with 

 greyish and dark brown. 



