ORALLY. 
CEDICNEMIDiE. 
• 
Subfam. CURSORTN.E *. 
Bill somewhat slender and curved or straight. Legs slender; knees slightly enlarged. 
Tarsi shielded with stout transverse scutes before and behind. Toes short and slightly webbed. 
Stomach large and membranous. 
Genus CTJRSORIUS. 
Bill wide at the base, curved throughout, the tip bent ; nostrils oval and basal, placed in a 
depression. Wings moderate, the 2nd quill equal to or slightly longer than the 1st; tertials 
nearly as long as the primaries. Tail short and rounded. Tarsus and bare tibia covered with 
transverse scutes before and behind ; knees thick ; toes very short, the middle toe much 
longer than the lateral ones, united to the outer at the base by a web, and also to the inner by a 
very small one ; claws short and straight, the middle one pectinated. 
CURSORIUS COROMANDELICUS. 
(THE INDIAN COURIER.) 
Charadrius corommdelicus, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 692 (1788). 
Cursorius asiaticus, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 7ol (1790). 
Cursorius corommdelicus (Gm.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 259 (1849); Kelaart, 
Prodromus, Cat. p. 132 (1852) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 108 ; 
Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 626 (1864); Beavan, Ibis, 1868, p. 388; Iioldsw. P. Z. S. 
1872, p. 470; Adam, Str. Peath. 1873, p. 393; Hume, t.c. p. 421 ; Ball, ibid. 1874, 
p. 429 ; Parker, ibid. 1875, p. 267 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, iii. p. 564 (1875) ; Butler 
& Hume, Str. Feath. 1876, p. 10; Fairbank, t. c. p. 262; Davidson & Wenden, ibid. 
1878, vii. p. 87 ; Ball, t. c. p. 226 ; Hume, ibid. 1879 (List B. of Ind.), p. 111. 
Coure-vite de Coromandel , Buffon, PI. Enl. 892 ; Coromandel Plover , Latham ; The Indian 
Courser, The Indian Courier-Plover. Nukri, Hind. ; Terra chitawa, Telugu. 
Adult male and female, (Ceylon). Length 8-8 to 9-5 inches; wing 5-8 to 6‘1 ; tail 2-3 to 2-5 ; tarsus 1-95 to 2-15 ; 
bare tibia 0-85 to 1-0 ; middle toe and claw 0-95 to 1-05 ; outer toe and claw 0-55 ; bill to gape 1-1 to 1-2. 
Eemales as observed by me average larger than males. 
Iris dark brown ; bill blackish ; gape and base of lower mandible yellowish ; legs and feet yellowish white or whitish, 
joints dark, claws black. 
* The Courier-Plovers resemble the Stone-Plovers in their anatomy, both showing affinity to the Bustards in this 
respect • in many of their habits the two groups are alike. The remarkable Double-banded Plover, Ehinoptilus bitorquatus, 
■Terd is’ in the matter of the bill, to a slight extent a link between Cursorius and (Edicnemus . 
