238 



LIMICOL.E. 



CHARADRIID^. 



CHARADRIID^. 



CURSORIUS GALLICTJS (Gmelin*). 

 THE CREAM-COLOURED COURSER. 

 Cursorius Europceus. 



CURSORIUS, Laiham\ . Beak a trifle shorter than the head, straight to the 

 end of the nasal sinus, then decurved to the tip, which is pointed. Nostrils 

 oval. Tarsi long and slender ; toes, three only, all in front, middle toe almost 

 as Jong again as the lateral toes. Wings long, rather pointed ; the first and 

 second quill-feathers the longest in the wing. 



THE CREAM-COLOURED COURSER was first described by 

 Buffon from a specimen killed in France, and to this cir- 

 cumstance it owes its specific name ; but neither to France, 

 nor indeed to any of the countries north of the Mediter- 

 ranean, can the bird be considered as otherwise than an 

 irregular visitant, although it is naturally more frequent in 

 Southern than in Northern Europe. 



* Charadrius gallicus, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 692 (1788). 

 t Ind. Orn. ii. p. 751 (1790). 



