CURSORIUS COROMANDELICUS. 



Indian Courser. 



Charadrius Coromandelicus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat. torn. i. pars ii. p. 692.— Vieill. Ency. Meth. Orn. part i. 



p. 24. 

 Cursorius asiaticus, Lath. Ind. Orn. vol. ii. p. 751.— Temm. Man. d'Orn. 2nde edit. torn. ii. p. 514.— Sykes in 



Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc. part ii. p. 165.— Less. Traite d'Orn. p. 530. 

 Courvite de la cote de Coromandel, Buff. PL Enl. 892.— lb. Hist. Nat. des Ois. torn. viii. p. 129. 

 Tacky dromus Coromandelicus, 111. Prod. p. 250. 



Coromandel Courser, Lath. Gen. Syn. vol. v. p. 217.— lb. Gen. Hist. vol. ix. p. 353. 

 Cursor frcenatus, Wagl. Syst. Av. Cursor, sp. 2. 

 Tachydromus Asiaticus, Vieill. Gal. des Ois. torn. ii. p. 90. 



Coromandelicus, Vieill. lb. pi. 232. 



Orientalis, Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 365.— lb. Anim. in Menag. &c. p. 339. 



Cursorius Tarayensis, Hodgs. in Gray's Misc. 1844, p. 86. 



coromandelicus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. hi. p. 537, Cursorius, sp. 3, and App. p. 25. App. to 



p. 537.— Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 259.— Gray, List of Birds in Coll. Brit. 



Mus. part hi. p. 60.— Gray, List of Spec, and Draw, of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by 



B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 131.— Jerd. Madras Journ. Lit. and Sci. vol. xii. p. 216.— Layard, Ann. and 



Mag. Nat. Hist. 2nd ser. vol. xiv. p. 108. 



The members of the genus Cursorius are but few in number, and all are natives of the Old World. India is 

 the natural habitat of two, if not of three species ; of these, the one here figured has been noticed by nearly 

 every writer on Indian ornithology, and would therefore seem, to be almost universally dispersed over the 

 country. 



My son, the late Dr. J. H. Gould, says, in one of the last letters I received from him, " I procured my 

 specimens of the Cursorius Coromandelicus in the neighbourhood of Kurrachee, where it is tolerably plentiful 

 on the arid plains that subtend the fiery rocks so characteristic of Scinde. I have observed it there from 

 May till September, that is, throughout the whole of the hot season, but am unable to say whether it is 

 migratory or not. Towards the end of October it seems to collect and feed in small companies, six or seven 

 being often seen within a short distance of each other. Although its structure is eminently adapted for 

 running, it does not depend upon this power alone for safety, but readily takes flight when closely pursued ; 

 and, moreover, being wary in the extreme, you can rarely obtain other than a long shot at it. Its habits are 

 very like those of the Houbara, and it frequents the same ground, being probably attracted by the same kind 

 of food. The stomachs of those I examined contained the remains of grasshoppers and dragonflies, which 

 at the time were very plentiful. The flesh of this bird forms no bad addition to the table." 



The following notice of this species occurs among the MS. notes on Indian Birds by Captain Boys : — 



" This beautiful bird is found at Sultanpore and Nusserabad, and is often seen on the way from Ferozepore 

 to Sukhur ; it has therefore a very wide range. Its flight is remarkably easy, and when disturbed it generally 

 alights again at from fifty to one hundred yards. It is a very nimble runner, and does not stoop or crouch 

 while running as most of the Plovers do. It is a very good bird for the spit." 



Mr. Jerdon states that " The Courier is very numerous towards the more northern part of the table-land, 

 much less so towards the south. It frequents the open bare plains only, in numerous flocks, running along 

 with great celerity, and picking up various insects, beetles, and small grasshoppers, with their larvae. It 

 breeds in the more retired spots during the hot weather, laying three eggs of a pale greenish-yellow colour, 

 much blotched and spotted with black, and also with a few olive spots. They are deposited in a slight hollow. 

 In length the bird varies from 8| to nearly 10 inches. As I have frequently killed birds of different lengths 



