Mr. H. Seebohm on the Genus Cursorius. 12l 



It is not surprising that even such a compact interlaced 

 genus as Cursorius should have had its share of ill usage at 

 the hands of the " splitters '' ; but it seems to me that the 

 only natural mode of subdivision is to regard the Coursers with 

 a band across the breast as one group, leaving the remainder 

 to form another group, each containing five species. 



The ancestors of the latter of these groups were probably 

 resident in the Mediterranean subregion during the last 

 Interglacial Period. During the cold winters of the Glacial 

 Period which followed, one party emigrated to India, and 

 are now represented by C. coromandelicus. A second party 

 emigrated to South Africa and became C. rufus and C. sene- 

 galetisis, the former in the south and the latter in the west ; 

 whence, after the two species became differentiated, the latter 

 gradually extended its range until it overlapped that of the 

 former. The third party, instead of emigrating, adopted 

 migratory habits, though not on a very extensive scale ; and 

 C. somalensis is probably the result of a small migratory 

 party which overshot its mark and finally settled in Somali- 

 land. The three tropical species (the two Ethiopian and 

 the one Oriental) have probably altered least in appearance, 

 as they have altered least in climate and habits, whilst C. 

 gallicus has altered most. 



Precisely in the same way the banded Coursers that have 

 the most southerly range have altered least, whilst the only 

 one (C. mjyptius') which ranges into the Palsearctic Region 

 has altered most. 



those birds, or that he was ignorant of Sundevall's classification of them. 

 Cursorius cerjyptius is absolutely placed in a different family to that which 

 contains its nearest allies. It appears in the family Cliaradriiuce, with 

 the incorrect character " tarsi reticulati,'' whilst the other Coursers are 

 placed in the family Otidinse, and are coi'rectly described as being pro- 

 vided with '■'■ tarsis trausv. scutatis." A systematist who relies solely on 

 external characters ought at least to describe them correctly. The verdict 

 of posterity will probably be that Sundevall's classification of birds is a 

 literary curiosity and nothing more. 



SER. V. VOL. IV. 



