1 ! 
^ . ORDER 
CURSORES. 
Rostrum aut mediocre, aut capite longius, apicc aut obtuso, vel 
aciito, interdum cuneato. 
h.'LM volatui aptce. 
Pedes longiores, tridactyli ; digiti vel ad imum Jissi, vel exte~ 
riores basi membrand connexi ^ Jemora in parte ir^eriore de- 
nudata. 
Beak medial, or longer than the head j the tip obtuse or pointed, 
sometimes wedge-shaped. 
Wings formed for flight. 
Legs long ; three-toed j the toes cleft to their origin, or the 
outer ones connected by a membrane at the base 5 the lower 
part of the thighs naked. 
The Bustards and Thick-knees, which form a 
division in this order, are included by Latham 
among the Gallinaceae, and the rest of the genera 
are placed with the Grallse. The former live in 
open plains, and are polygamous, the Thick-knees^ 
excepted, which live in pairs : their food consists 
of herbs, seeds, and insects: the latter reside on 
the gravelly borders of rivers, in pairs, subsisting 
upon aquatic insects and worms. 
In the subsequent account of this and the fol- 
lowing orders, I have omitted many of the species 
described by Latham, they having been inserted 
in his Synopsis from the concise and vague de- 
scriptions of various travellers. 
