246 



CUESOEIUS. 



Specific 

 characters. 



Geographi- 

 cal distribu- 

 tion. 



Nearest ally. 



Heuglin's Courser may be diagnosed by its nearly uniform brown secondaries. 

 Levaillant's Courser has nearly uniform chestnut secondaries ; but in all the other species 

 there is much white and some nearly black on these feathers. As an additional character 

 it may be useful to add upper tail-coverts white, which excludes five species, and axillaries 

 white, which rejects a sixth. 



Heuglin's Courser appears to be a very rare bird. It was originally described from 

 the White Nile about 5° north of the equator (Heuglin, Orn. N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 972). 

 Mr. Lort Phillips met with it near Berbera in Somali-Land about five degrees further north 

 (Shelley, Ibis, 1885, p. 416); and it has been found in Bari-Land (Pelzeln, Ibis, 1864, 

 p. 231). It has occurred in Masai-Land (Fischer, Journ. Orn. 1885, p. 115), and I have an 

 example in my collection from Ovampo-Land (Andersson, Birds of Damara-Land, p. 262). 



It appears to be nearest related to C. bicincttis. Young in first plumage are unknown, 

 nor has any description of its habits been published. 



CURSORIUS CHALCOPTERUS. 



BR ONZE- WINGED CO URSEB. 



Diagnosis. CuRSORius supracaudalibus albis : secuadariariim parte basali alba, parte terminali nigra : primariis 

 baud albo sabterminali maculatis : (in adult.) remigum nigrarum terminis iridescentibus. 



Variations. NOTWITHSTANDING its wide range this species is not known to vary. 



Synonymy. Cursorius chalcopterus, Temminclc, PI. Col. no. 298 (1824). 



Cursor cbalcopterus (Temm.), Wagler, Syst. Av. Gen. p. 81 (1827). 

 Taebydromus cbalcopterus [Temm.), Swainson, Birds W. Africa, ii. p. 233 (1837). 

 Rhinoptilus cbalcopterus [Temm.), Strickland, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1850, p. 220. 

 Cursorius superciliaris, Heuglin, Journ. Orn. 1865, p. 98. 



Literature. Plates. — Temm. PL Col. no. 298; Gray, Genera of Birds, iii. pi. cxliii. 



Habits. — Sharpe, Layard's Birds S. Africa, p. 656. 

 Eggs. — Unknown. 



