Mr. H. Seebohm on the Genus Cursorius. 115 
whereas in the Arizona bird the back is perfectly uniform 
in both old and young, they belong to different species. 
I therefore propose for the latter the name of Pious arizonce , 
the diagnosis of which will be as follows :— 
P. similis P. stricklandi , sed dorso uniformi nee albo-fasciato 
distinguendus. 
Hab. In montibus “ Santa Rita ” dictis, in Arizona. Ex 
typ. in mus. nostr. 
XYI.— A Revieiv of the Species of the Genus Cursorius. 
By Henry Seebohm. 
Twenty years ago the genus Cursorius was reviewed by Dr. 
Hartlaub (P. Z. S. 1866, p. 61) ; yet, notwithstanding the 
numerous collections of African birds which have since that 
date found their way to London and Berlin, our knowledge 
of the species of this interesting group had advanced but 
little until the visit of Mr. E. Lort Phillips to Somali-land, 
in the winter of 1884-85, added a new species to the list. 
The Coursers form a group of about a dozen species of 
birds which are intermediate between the Pratincoles and the 
Lapwings, and probably almost as closely allied to the Bus¬ 
tards on the one hand and the Plovers on the other. The 
Lapwings and Plovers, like the Sandpipers, Snipes, and other 
birds belonging to the same family, have the nasal orifice 
placed in a groove or ditch which extends for some distance 
beyond it; but in Otis , Cursorius , and Glareola there is no 
nasal groove, the nasal orifice being placed in a depression 
not more elongated than itself. From Otis, Cursorius may 
be distinguished by its scutellated tarsus, and from Glareola 
by its having neither a forked tail nor a hind toe. 
The Coursers are desert birds, and feed upon the insects 
that are found upon sandy plains. It is therefore not sur¬ 
prising that most of the species are confined to Africa. The 
range of the genus Cursorius extends, however, northwards 
into Palsearctic Africa, and eastwards through Syria, Arabia,, 
and Persia to India and Ceylon. 
It is unnecessary to repeat the synonymy of each species, 
which remains very much in the same condition in which it 
