Mr. H. Seebohm on the Genus Cursorius. 115 



whereas in the Arizona bird the back is perfectly uniform 

 in both old and young, they belong to different species. 

 I therefore propose for the latter the name of Picus arizonce, 

 the diagnosis of which will be as follows : — 

 P. similis P. stricklandi, sed dorso uniforminecalbo-fasciato 

 distinguendus. 

 Hab. In montibus " Santa Rita '^ dictis, in Arizona. Ex 

 typ. in mus. uostr. 



XVI. — A Review of the Species of the Genus Cursorius. 

 By Henry Seebohm. 



Twenty years ago the genus Cursorius was reviewed by Dr. 

 Hartlaub (P. Z. S. 1866, p. 61) ; yet, notwithstanding the 

 numerous collections of African birds which have since that 

 date found their way to London and Berlin, our knowledge 

 of the species of this interesting group had advanced but 

 little until the visit of Mr. E. Lort Phillips to Somali-land, 

 in the winter of 1884-85, added a new species to the list. 



The Coursers form a group of about a dozen species of 

 birds which are intermediate between the Pratincoles and the 

 Lapwings, and probably almost as closely allied to the Bus- 

 tards on the one hand and the Plovers on the other. The 

 Lapwings and Plovers, like the Sandpipers, Snipes, and other 

 birds belonging to the same family, have the nasal orifice 

 placed in a groove or ditch which extends for some distance 

 beyond it ; but in Otis, Cursorius, and Glareola there is no 

 nasal groove, the nasal orifice being placed in a depression 

 not more elongated than itself. From Otis, Cursorius may- 

 be distinguished by its scutellated tarsus, and from Glareola 

 by its having neither a forked tail nor a hind toe. 



The Coursers are desert birds, and feed upon the insects 

 that are found upon sandy plains. It is therefore not sur- 

 prising that most of the species are confined to Africa. The 

 range of the genus Cursorius extends, however, northwards 

 into Palsearctic Africa, and eastwards through Syria, Arabia, 

 and Persia to India and Ceylon. 



It is unnecessary to repeat the synonymy of each species, 

 which remains verv much in the same condition in which it 



