COURSERS. 
473 
of Central ancl Northern Asia in summer, migrating in winter to South Africa, 
may he distinguished by its black axillaries; while the Indian pratincole 
(G. orientalis), ranging from India to North Australia, differs from the common 
species by the slight forking of its tail. The white-naped pratincole (G. nuchalis) 
and Biittikofer’s pratincole (G. megapoda ) may be cited as examples of an 
African group of the genus, in which the nape has a light-coloured collar, and the 
forking of the tail is very slight. Of the common species Mr. Seebohm writes 
that, although it sometimes frequents cultivated lands, “ its favourite haunts are on 
the sandy tracts either near the sea or on the table-lands of the interior. The 
pratincole spends a considerable portion of its time in the air, hawking for insects 
like a gigantic swallow, skimming along with graceful motion, wheeling and dart¬ 
ing about, chasing its prey in all directions. Upon the ground it is equally at 
its ease, and runs to and fro with surprising swiftness in spite of its short legs. 
Sometimes it even wades in the little pools with which its haunts often abound; 
frequently it flies at a considerable height, occasionally very low, just skimming 
along above the ground/’ Beetles and grasshoppers appear to constitute its 
favourite food. These birds do not make any nest, but lay their two or three 
eggs on the bare ground, in most cases without even taking the trouble of scratch¬ 
ing a hollow for their reception. The eggs, which are generally laid in May, are 
nearly oval, and extremely fragile; their ground-colour varying from yellow to 
slaty grey, upon which are numerous streaks and blotches of dark blackish brown. 
Like many other members of the order, pratincoles endeavour to draw intruders 
away from their nests by simulating lameness or some other injury. An early 
migrant, this species usually reaches its breeding-grounds in Spain, France, the 
valley of the Danube, Asia Minor, or North Africa during April. 
Although agreeing with the lapwings in the scutes covering 
Coursers, o o o 1 o o 
their legs, the handsome birds known as coursers resemble the 
pratincoles in the absence of grooves in the beak for the nostrils, and likewise 
in the characters of the base of the skull; but they differ in the absence of the 
first toe, in the short and nearly even tail, and in their habit of taking their food 
while on the ground. The typical genus includes nine well-defined species, which 
are mainly restricted to the warmer parts of the Old World, exclusive of Australia ; 
while the African black-backed courser represents a genus ( Pluvianus ) by itself, 
distinguished from all other members of the order by the oval (holorhinal) nasal 
apertures of the skull. 
Cream-Coloured The best known and typical representative of the group is the 
Courser. cream-coloured courser (Cursorius gallicus), which inhabits the desert 
areas stretching from Northern and North-Eastern Africa, through Arabia, Persia, 
Baluchistan, and Afghanistan, to the Punjab, Sind, and Rajputana, and occasionally 
wanders into Britain and other parts of Europe. A somewhat aberrant member 
of the group, as regards coloration, this species is characterised by the general pale, 
wood-brown hue tinged with reddish buff of the upper-parts ; the head being buff 
on the top, and grey tipped with black behind; a white, and below it a black 
streak running above the eye ; the primaries and under wing-coverts nearly black ; 
the secondaries dark brown with buff outer webs and white tips ; the tail-feathers 
marked with a black spot near the end ; the under-parts huffish white ; and the legs 
