THE COURSERS. 131 



genus Cursorius are known, of which three are peculiar to 

 Africa, one to the desert portions of the Mediterranean Sub- 

 region and Central Asia, while one, C. coromandelicus, is only 

 found in India. 



I. THE CREAM-COLOURED COURSER. CURSORIUS GALLICUS. 



C Jmradrins gallicus, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 692 (1788). 

 Cursorius europceus, Macg. Brit. B. iv. p. 42 (1852); Saunders, 



ed. Yarr. Brit. B. iii. p. 238 (1883). 



Cursorius gallicus, Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 425, pi. 544 (1875) ; 

 B. O. U. List Brit. B. p. 156 (1883) ; Secbohm, Brit. B. 

 iii. p. 63 (1885); Saunders, Man. Brit. B. p. 519 (1889); 

 Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. part xxviii. (1894); Sharpe, Cat. 

 B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 34. 



Adult Male. General colour isabelline-buff or pale-tawny on 

 the back ; wing-coverts like the back ; primary-quills black, 

 the secondaries also black, but with sandy-coloured edges and 

 white fringes at the ends ; tail-feathers sandy-rufous, tipped 

 with white, before which is a black sub-terminal band ; fore- 

 part of crown sandy-rufous ; hinder crown and nape pale bluish- 

 grey, concealing a black patch on the nape ; lores isabelline- 

 white ; a broad white band above the eye, joining on the nape, 

 followed by a black band from behind the eye, above the 

 ear-coverts to the nape ; feathers below the eye whitish ; ear- 

 coverts sandy-rufous; fore-part of cheeks and upper throat 

 white ; lower throat and under surface of body sandy-isabelline, 

 becoming whiter on the abdomen and under tail-coverts ; 

 under wing-coverts, axillaries, and quill-lining black; the lesser 

 lower wing-coverts sandy-rufous ; bill dusky-black ; the angle 

 of the mouth and base of the lower mandible white ; feet 

 china-white ; iris umber-brown. Total length, 9 inches ; cul- 

 men, ro; wing, 6-35 ; tail, 2-35; tarsus, 2-25. 



Adult Female. Similar in colour to the male. Total length, 

 9 inches; oilmen, 0-95; wing, 6*2; tail, 2-3; tarsus, 2-1. 



Young Birds. Similarly coloured to the adults, but with wavy 

 bands of dusky-grey all over the upper surface. 



Range in Great Britain. An accidental wanderer to our islands, 

 not yet noticed in Ireland, and only once in Scotland. About 

 twenty examples have, however, been recorded from various 



K 2 



