DE,

 

CURSORIUS COROMANDELICUS.

Indian Courser.

Charadrius Coromandelicus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. N : * oa
i yst. Nat. tom. i. pars ll. p. 692.—Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn. part i.

Cursorius asiaticus, Lath. Ind. Orn. vol. ii. p- 751.—Temm. Man. d’Orn. 2nde édit. tom
Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc. Pp .
Courvite de la céte de Coromandel, Buff. Pl. Enl. 892.—Ib. Hi
Tachydromus Coromandelicus, Il. Prod. Pp. 250.
Coromandel Courser, Lath. Gen. Syn. vol. v. p. 217.—Ib. Gen. Hist. vol. ix. p. 353,
Cursor frenatus, Wag). Syst. Av. Cursor, Sp. -2.
Tachydromus Asiaticus, Vieill. Gal. des Ois. tom. ii. p- 90.
Coromandelicus, Vieill. Ib. pl. 232.
Orientalis, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p- 365.—Ib. Anim. in Menag. &c. p. 339.
Cursorius Tarayensis, Hodgs. in Gray’s Misc. 1844, p. 86.
coromandelicus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. Pp: 937,
p. 537.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Cal
Mus. part iii. p. 60.—Gray, List of Spec. and Draw.
B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 131.—Jerd. Madras
Mag. Nat. Hist. 2nd ser. vol. xiv. p. 108.

: li. p. 514.—Sykes in
art 1. p. 165.—Less. Traité d’Orn. p. 530.
st. Nat. des Ois. tom. viii. p. 129.

Cursorius, sp. 3, and App. p. 25. App. to
cutta, p. 259.--Gray, List of Birds in Coll. Brit.
of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by
Journ. Lit. and Sci. vol. xii. p. 216.— Layard, Ann. and

 

Tue 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 ornot. 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 atit. Its habits ai
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 adding to the ae

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 B erozepore
to Sukhur ; it has therefore a very wide range. Its flight iS remarkably easy, and when disturbed it ee
alights again at from fifty to one hundred yards. It is a very nimble munneg and does not stoop or crouch
while running as most of the Plovers do. It is a very good bird for the spit. a

Mr. Jerdon states that ‘*‘ The Courter is very numerous towards the nom northern part of the ta e a
much less so towards the south. It frequents the open bare Dae a = ee ee =
with great celerity, and picking up various Insects, beetles, ane sma wae a oe
breeds in the more retired spots during the hot weather, laying three eggs of a pale g J

: 5 : fe one Sj ina slight hollow.
much blotched and spotted with black, and also with a few olive spots. They are deposited in a shig

la length the bird varies from 81 to nearly 10 inches. As I have frequently killed birds of different lengths