CEEAM-COLOUEED COUESER. 3 



Referring to a further visit to the Island of Fuerteventura in February 1889, 

 Mr. Meade- Waldo writes* : — " I think I got on a little better this year at finding 

 the nests of Cursorius gallicus, but they certainly are very difficult to discover. 

 This is caused by the perfectly open country, the bird being of the same colour as 

 the ground and never flying or betraying uneasiness, and the eggs being exactly 

 like the stones that cover the plain. There is really no nest, the bigger stones 

 being just moved away to make room for the bird to sit on the two eggs. I had 

 promised Mr. Sharpe to get him a pair, with the eggs and ground on which the 

 eggs had been laid, for a case in the Natural History Museum. Two or three 

 days after our arrival a goatherd said he knew of one, and offered to show it to 

 us. It seemed very wonderful how he could walk about three miles over ground, 

 without any landmark to speak of, to two eggs that he had seen a few days before 

 and thought no more about, never dreaming anyone could want them ; however, 

 he took us straight to them. This man did not know, until I sj^oke to him, that 

 I was after eggs of any kind. I shot the hen, and proceeded to mark out the 

 ground for removing, when the man, wondering what on earth we were at, 

 walked up and put his foot on the two eggs ! ! This was singularly annoying, 

 and we were eight days before we found another nest, and had almost begun to 

 despair of ever getting one. However, eight days after this misfortune I got a 

 nest, eggs, and parent, and also a pair of beautiful little young ; the young are 

 much easier to find than the eggs. The hen only remains at the nest whilst she 

 is sitting, the cocks either go about in little parties or mix with birds which are 

 not breeding. When the young are hatched, however, both parents care for 

 them, the male being rather shier than the hen. While running about, it is easy 

 to tell the cock from the hen ; he carries himself much higher and seems to have 

 a bigger head ; when shot this difference vanishes. The males breed in their first 

 year, as two I shot were in partly spotted plumage ; nevertheless many do not 

 breed at all, and I saw flocks of from fifteen to forty birds whilst others had 

 eggs or small young. In flocks they were very wild, and reminded one generally 

 of Lapwings ; they skim a great deal with outstretched motionless wings. Their 

 voice is a low qua qua when they have young. 



" When shot the Cream-coloured Coui'ser ejects a lot of brownish fluid out 

 of its mouth, which soils its feathers very much. I fancy this is natural and 

 voluntary. Where they most frequent this fluid may be seen in patches, and a 

 pair of young ones that I kept alive for three days ejected some of it when quite 

 undisturbed and apparently at their ease. This little pair I tried to rear, and 



* " Further Notes on the Birds of the Canary Islands," ' Ibis,' 1889, pp. 505, 506. 



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