2242 PLOVERS, SANDPIPERS, SNIPE, JACANAS, GULLS 



Northern Asia in summer, migrating in winter to South Africa, may be distin- 

 guished by its black axillaries; while the Indian pratincole (G. orientals}, ranging 

 from India to North Australia, differs from the common species by the slight fork- 

 ing of its tail. The white-naped pratincole (G. nuchalis) and Biittikofer's pratin- 

 cole {G. megapoda) may be cited as examples of an African group of the genus, in 

 which the nape has a light colored collar, and the forking of the tail is very slight, 

 Of the common species Mr. Seebohm writes that, although it sometimes frequents 

 cultivated lands, ' ' its favorite haunts are on the sandy tracts either near the sea or 

 on the table-lands of the interior. The pratincole spends a considerable portion of 

 its time in the air, hawking for insects like a gigantic swallow, skimming along 

 with graceful motion, wheeling and darting about, chasing its prey in all directions. 

 Upon the ground it is equally at its ease, and runs to and fro with surprising swift- 

 ness in spite of its short legs. Sometimes it even wades in the little pools with 

 which its haunts often abound; frequently it flies at a considerable height, occasion- 

 ally very low, just skimming along above the ground." Beetles and grasshoppers 

 appear to constitute its favorite food These birds do not make any nest, but lay 

 their two or three eggs on the bare ground, in most cases without even taking the 

 trouble of scratching a hollow for their reception. The eggs, which are generally 

 laid in May, are nearly oval, and extremely fragile; their ground color varying 

 from yellow to slaty gray, upon which are numerous streaks and blotches of dark 

 blackish brown. I^ike many other members of the order, pratincoles endeavor to 

 draw intruders away from their nests by simulating lameness or some other injury. 

 An early migrant, this species usually reaches its breeding grounds in Spain, 

 France, the valley of the Danube, Asia Minor, or North Africa during April. 



Although agreeing with the lapwings in the scutes covering their 

 Coursers , L . , , .. , , 



legs, the handsome birds known as coursers resemble the pratincoles 



in the absence of grooves in the beak for the nostrils, and likewise in the character- 

 istics of the base of the skull; but they differ in the absence of the first toe, in the 

 short and nearly even tail, and in their habit of taking their food while on the 

 ground. The typical genus includes nine well-defined species, which are mainly 

 restricted to the warmer parts of the Old World, exclusive of Australia; while the 

 African black-backed courser represents a genus {Pluvianus) by itself, distinguished 

 from all other members of the order by the oval (holorhinal) nasal apertures of the 

 skull. 



The best-known and typical representative of the group is the 

 Cream-Colored , J - . \ .. <u tH 



Courser cream-colored courser (Cursortus galhcus), which inhabits the desert 



areas stretching from Northern and Northeastern Africa, through 

 Arabia, Persia, Baluchistan, and Afghanistan, to the Punjab, Sind, and Rajputana, 

 and occasionally wanders into Britain, and other parts of Europe. A somewhat 

 aberrant member of the group, as regards coloration, this species is characterized 

 by the general pale, wood-brown hue tinged with reddish buff on the upper parts; 

 the head being buff on the top, and gray tipped with black behind; a white, and 

 below it a black streak running above the eye; the primaries and under wing coverts 

 nearly black; the secondaries dark brown with buff outer webs and white tips; the 

 tail feathers marked with a black spot near the end; the under parts btiffish white, 



