THE COURSERS. I3I 



genus Cinsoriiis are known, of winch three are peciih'ar to 

 Africa, one to the desert portions of the Mediterranean Sub- 

 region and Central Asia, while one, C. coromandclicus^ is only 

 found in India. 



I. THE CREAM-COLOURED COURSER. CURSORIUS GALLICUS. 



C ha radrius galliais, Gmc\. Syst. Nat. i. p. 692 (1788). 

 Cursoriiis eurojxeus, Macg. Brit. B. iv. p. 42 (1852); Saunders, 



ed. Yarr. Brit. B. iii. p. 238 (1883). 

 Cursorius gallicus, Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 425, pi. 544 (1875); 

 B. O. U. List Brit. B. p. 156 (1883) ; Secbohm, Brit. B. 

 iii. p. ()i (1885); Saunders, Man. Brit. B. p. 519 (1889); 

 Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. part xxviii. (1894) ; Sharpe, Cat. 

 B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 34. 

 Adult Male. — General colour isabelline-buff or pale-tawny on 

 the back ; wing-coverts like the back ; primary-quills black, 

 the secondaries also black, but with sandy-coloured edges and 

 white fringes at the ends; tail-feathers sandy-rufous, tipped 

 with white, before which is a black sub-terminal band ; fore- 

 part of crown sandy-rufous ; hinder crown and nape pale bluish- 

 grey, concealing a black patch on the nape ; lores isabelline- 

 white ; a broad white band above the eye, joining on the nape, 

 followed by a black band from behind the eye, above the 

 ear-coverts to the nape ; feathers below the eye whitish ; ear- 

 coverts sandy-rufous ; fore-part of cheeks and upper throat 

 white ; lower throat and under surface of body sandy-isabelline, 

 becoming whiter on the abdomen and under tail-coverts ; 

 under wing-coverts, axillaries, and quill-lining black; the lesser 

 lower wing-coverts sandy-rufous ; bill dusky-black ; the angle 

 of the mouth and base of the lower mandible white ; feet 

 china-white ; iris umber-brown. Total length, 9 inches ; cul- 

 men, i'g; wing, 6*35; tail, 2*35; tarsus, 2-25. 



Adult Female. — Similar in colour to the male. Total length, 

 9 inches ; culmen, 0*95; wing, 6*2; tail, 2*3; tarsus, 2-1. 



Young Birds. — Similarly coloured to the adults, but w^ith wavy 

 bands of dusky-grey all over the upper surface. 



Range in Great Britain. — An accidental wanderer to our islands, 

 not yet noticed in Ireland, and only once in Scotland. About 

 twenty examples have, however, been recorded from various 



K 2 



