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SWIFTFOOT. 



THE Courser or Swiftfoot, which leads us nearer 

 the typical Charadriadce, are Little Bustard Plovers, 

 intermediate in many respects, and showing a beau- 

 tiful gradation of form. With the exception of their 

 frequenting arid plains or steppes, we know little 

 of their economy, and one specimen only occurs in 

 the British List as an occasional and rare visitant. 



CURSORIUS, Latham. Generic characters. Bill 

 depressed, towards the tip curved, pointed ; 

 nostrils basal, pierced in the short and partial 

 membrane of the nasal grove ; wings of mean 

 length, but ample from the breadth of the 

 feathers ; second quill longest, nearly equal to 

 the first ; tail short ; legs long, slender ; tibiae 

 naked far above tarsal joint ; feet small ; toes 

 three, anterior, connected by a small membrane, 

 claw of the centre pectinated. 



Type, C. EuropceuS) licinctus, &c. Europe, Asia, 

 Africa. 



