116 Mr. H. Seebohm on the Genus Cursorius. 
was left by Dr. Hartlaub ; but the lapse of twenty years has 
added something to our knowledge of geographical distribu¬ 
tion which is worth recording. I have also endeavoured,, in 
every case, to give an absolute diagnosis of each species, 
without increasing the length of my paper by adding other 
details of description. 
1. Cursorius somalensis, sp. nov. 
I cannot agree with Capt. Shelley that the example of the 
Somali Courser obtained by Mr. Lort Phillips (Shelley, 
Ibis, 1885, p. 415) represents merely a local race of the 
Cream-coloured Courser - *. It appears to me to be a good 
species, which may be diagnosed as having the hind head 
slate-grey (like C. gallicns and C. rufus ), but the axillaries 
and under wing-coverts greyish buff (instead of nearly black). 
It further differs from C. gallicus in the following particu¬ 
lars:—It is a much smaller bird, the wing measuring 5*3 inches 
instead of from 6*0 to 6*3 inches; nevertheless it appears to 
have longer though more slender legs, the tarsus measuring 
2*3 inches instead of from 2*1 to 2*3 inches. The colour of 
the back and wing-coverts is much darker. The subterminal 
black bands on the tail are twice as broad, and are also 
traceable on the centre tail-feathers. Finally, the black 
margins of the inner webs of the secondaries scarcely occupy 
a fifth part of the web instead of more than half. 
The species is only known from a single example; but 
Mr. Lort Phillips states that it was fairly common in small 
flocks throughout the plateau. 
2. Cursorius gallicus. 
The Cream-coloured Courser has the axillaries and under 
wing-coverts nearly black , and the outer web of the secon¬ 
daries buff. No other Courser fulfils both these conditions. 
The nearly black axillaries and under wing-coverts are found 
even in young in first plumage, showing the importance of 
the character; but the slate-grey hind head and the black 
belly are characters which only appear after the first moult. 
The buff outer webs of the secondaries are, however, found 
at all ages. 
* [“ Cursorius galliots somalensis, siibsp. n.; subspecific race,” are 
Capt. Shelley’s exact words.—E dd.] 
