Genus CURSOEIUS or COURSERS. 



Type CURSORIUS GALLICUS. 



Cursorius of Latham (1790). — The birds comprising the 

 present genus are characterised by having no nasal groove, the 

 nostrils being situated in a depression no more elongated than 

 the opening. They are further characterised by having the tail 

 unforked, the tarsus scutellated, and no hind toe. The wings 

 are rather long and pointed ; the tail is rounded. The tarsus is 

 long, the lower portion of the tibia devoid of feathers ; the claw 

 on the middle toe of many species pectinated. The bill is a little 

 shorter than the head, nearly straight to the nasal orifice, then 

 arched to the tip. 



This genus is composed of twelve species and subspecies, 

 confined to the Eastern Hemisphere, being inhabitants of the 

 Ethiopian, southern Palaearctic, and Oriental regions. One 

 species is a rare straggler to the British Islands. 



The Coursers are dwellers on sandy plains and deserts. Their 

 flight is rapid and well-sustained, but they are birds of skulking 

 habit, and live principally on the ground, where they walk and 

 run with ease. Their notes are harsh. They subsist principally 

 on insects and their larvae. They make no nest, but deposit 

 their two or three rotund eggs in a depression in the ground; 

 these are spotted. They are monogamous, and more or less 

 social all through the year. 



