340 



PLOVERS. 



In such places they are generally seen searching for insects and 

 their larvse. Their flight is rapid and powerful ; while on the 

 ground they are able to run with incredible speed. 

 The most interesting species is — 



The Cream-coloured Courser {Cursoriits isabdUnus), one of the rarest 

 visitors to our shores ; indeed, only three or four instances have been recorded 

 of its appearance in Great Britain at various intervals since 1785. Some 

 years ago one was shot in Kent, and the following account is all that we 

 possess of its history : 



" It was first met with running over some light land, and so little fearful 

 was it, that the person who afterwards shot it had time to send for a gun, 



Fig. 171.— The Gaulish Courser (C; 



CaUicus). 



which did not readily go off, having been charged some time, and in conse- 

 quence he missed his aim. The report frightened the bird away ; but after 

 making a turn or two, it again settled within a hundred yards, and was de- 

 spatched. It was observed to run with incredible swiftness, and at intervals 

 to pick up something from the ground, and was so bold as to render it difficult 

 to make it rise, in order to shoot it while on the wing. The note was not like 

 that of a plover, nor, indeed, to be compared with tliat of any known bird."* 

 The Cream-coloured Courser is a native of S>Tia, Egypt, and Abyssinia, 

 where it seems generally to frequent pools and other moist situations. Its 



* This specimen found its way into the Lcverian Museum, at the sale of which it 

 was purchased by FiclUel, who afterwards disposed of it to Dr. Donovan for the sum 

 of eighty-three guineas. It is now in the British Museum. 



