246 A HANDBOOK OF EUROPEAN BIRDS. 
in the form of streaks of dark#®6rown ; chest obscurely mottled 
with brown. 
Birds of the year: Have obscure buff margins to feathers 
of upper parts, and a streaked throat. 
Distribution: Summer visitant to Southern and South- 
western Europe and Central Asia, wintering in Africa as far 
south as Natal. Occasionally wanders northward to Great 
Britain on migration. 
Habitat: Sandy ‘‘steppe” country, marshes, and the 
proximity of lakes and rivers. 
NORDMANN'S PRATINCOLE. 
Glareola melanoptera WVordm. 
Adult : Differs from G. pratincola chiefly in being some- 
what darker in general tint, and in having back axillaries, and 
under wing-coverts. Length 9 to roinches; culmeno’s5 ; wing 
(i755 fall 453.5 tarsus 1-5, 
Young in first plumage: Have the axillaries black, mar- 
gined with chestnut. 
Birds of the year: “ Resemble the adult, excepting that 
the feathers on the upper parts are slightly edged with fulvous, 
and the black line enclosing the throat of the adult is wanting, 
the throat being dirty ochre-yellow, marked with black, and 
the breast is marked with blackish ” (Dresser). 
Distribution: Occurs in summer in South-western Asia, 
and in the extreme south-eastern portions of Europe, wintering 
in Southern Africa. 
Habitat : Similar localities to G. pratincola. 
Family CHARADRIID-. 
Genus CURSORIUS. 
CREAM-COLOURED COURSER. 
Cursorius gallicus (Gwe/.). 
Adult: Crown slate-grey ; nape and a line to the eye d/ack ; 
superciliary stripe, extending to hind neck, white ; upper parts 
generally sandy-buff; beneath paler buff, shading into white 
