CUHSORIUS. BIRDS. 285 



O. tetraxy Lin. The Little Bustard. Variegated with black, rufous 

 and white, with black zigzag markings above ; white beneath ; 

 neck black, with a double white ring. Collar of the female of 

 the same colour as the back, and the breast rufous- white, streaked 

 with dusky. 18 inches long. Europe. B Selby, Illust. pi. 65. 



** Mandibles depressed at the base. 



O. houbara, Lin. Bill long, depressed at the base ; a large tuft of 

 slender feathers on the head ; similar feathers on the sides of the 

 neck ; body above yellow, spotted with brown ; beneath white ; 

 tail ochreous, with black fasciae, and white] tips. 2 feet long. 

 Inhabits Barbary and Arabia; sometimes found in the South of 

 Europe. Tern. Man. 509. 



Gen. 6. CURSORIUS, Lath. Charadrius, Gmel. 



Bill shorter than the head, depressed at the base, curved to- 

 wards the end and pointed ; nostrils oval, surmounted by a 

 small protuberance ; legs long and slender ; toes, three before, 

 very short, and entirely divided, the interior one shortest ; 

 claws very small, second wing-feather the longest. 



The species belonging to this genus hitherto discovered are few, and these natives 

 of the warmer parts of Africa and Asia. In Europe one species only is an accidental 

 visitor. 



C. Isabellinus, Meyer. Swiftfoot. General plumage buff-orange or 

 senna-yellow, palest upon the belly and wing-coverts ; a double 

 black band behind the eye, going to the occiput ; quills black ; 

 lateral feathers of the tail black toward the tip. 9 inches long. 

 Inhabits Europe. B. Lewiris Brit. Birds, i. pi. 187- 



C. Asiaticus, Lath. Crown of the head red ; breast and neck chest- 

 nut ; nape, wings, and tail brown ; rump, coverts, and extremity 

 of the tail-feathers white ; bill black. 8 inches long. Inhabits 

 India Tern. Man. 514. 



C. bicinctus, Tern. Top of the head brown, varied with reddish ; 

 cheeks and neck yellow, with longitudinal brown stripes; a double 

 nuchal collar, the lower black, as are the quills, the upper 

 white. 8 inches long. Inhabits Africa Tern. Man. 515. 



ORDER XIII. GRALLATORES. 



Bill of various forms, but most frequently straight, in the form 

 of an elongated cone, and compressed, more rarely depressed, 

 or flat ; legs slender, long, more or less naked above the knee, 

 three toes before and one behind, the posterior one jointed 

 at the level of those before, or more elevated. 



The birds included in this order are almost all semi-nocturnal, stalking along the 

 margin of the sea, lakes, or rivers, and feeding on fish or their fry, reptiles, worms, 

 or insects. Those which have a hard bill feed on fishes and reptiles ; those with a 



