GLAREOLIDX 325 



but paler, and albescent towards the vent and under tail-coverts ; 

 lower wing-coverts deep brown. 



The Cream-colored Courser is a not uncommon cold weather 

 visitant to Northern Guzerat ; it does not occur in the Deccan. 

 In Sind it is a permanent resident, breeding during May and 

 June. 



The eggs are barely distinguishable from those of the preceding 

 species, 



FAMILY, Glareolidae. 



Bill short, arched ; gape very large ; wings long ; tail even or 

 forked ; tarsus rather short, reticulated ; hind-toe present, but 

 small. 



GENUS, Glareola, Brisson. 



Bill short, convex, arched from the middle ; gape very deeply 

 cleft ; nostrils basal, oblique, semi-tubular ; wings narrow, very 

 long and pointed, with the first quill longest ; tail short and even, 

 or long and forked ; tarsi moderate, reticulated, slender ; four 

 toes ; outer-toe united at the base to the middle one by a short 

 web ; middle-claw pectinated ; hind-toe not touching the ground ; 

 nails pointed, 



Glareola orientalis, Leach. 



842. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 631 ; Butler, Deccan ; 

 Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 425 ; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology 

 of Sind, p. 222. 



THE LARGE SWALLOW PLOVER. 



Length, 10 ; expanse, 24 ; wing, 7'5 ; tail, 4'5; tarsus, T25; 

 bill at gape, O98. 



Bill black ; gape red ; irides dark-brown ; feet dusky-black. 



Upper plumage, including the head, pale hair-brown ; orbits 

 white beneath, feathered ; quills blackish, the shaft of first 

 primary white externally ; upper tail-coverts white ; tail with the 

 feathers white at their base, broadly tipped with blackish-brown ; 

 beneath, the chin and throat rufous, surrounded by a black line 

 from the gape ; below this the breast and abdomen are rufous- 

 earthy, passing into white on the lower abdomen, vent, and under 

 tail-coverts ; axillaries and posterior portion of the under wing- 

 coverts chesnut. 



The Large Swallow Plover is rare in the Deccan, but is common 

 in Sind. It breeds in the latter district during April and May. 

 The eggs, two or three in number, are deposited on the ground, 

 in a depression, and are broad oval or nearly spherical in shape ; 

 they are of a light dirty-green color, or even drab, covered with 

 dark purple blotches and spots, occasionally forming a zone at the 

 large end. 



They measure T26 inches in length by O95 in width. 



