388 GALLING. 



and alight ; then^ if followed, run along the ground 

 to a short distance, and with difficulty rise again. 

 Others, however, according to Dr. Smith, " fly to a 

 great height, and suddenly descend when they 

 approach the water or their feeding-grounds ; and 

 sometimes the descent is not commenced till they are 

 directly over the spot on which it is their purpose 

 to alight. On such occasions they are obliged to 

 make a semicircular or circular sweep before they 

 can reach the desired locality. Their food consists 

 of hard seeds, bulbs, and insects, mixed with fine 

 gravel. ^^ The female lays from two to four eggs on 

 the bare ground. 



The best-known species, — 



The Pintailed Sand Grouse {PterocUs alchata), a native 

 of the southern portion of Europe, the North of Africa, 

 and the level and arid plains of Persia, is particularly 

 abundant in Spain, Sicily, and through the whole of the 

 Levant, visiting, at uncertain seasons and in small num- 

 bers, the southern provinces of France. It is a bird of 

 migratory habits, and, like its congeners, prefers wild 

 and barren districts. These birds abound in the stony dis- 

 tricts beyond Jordan, and are there known by the name 

 of "Katta." Burckhardt says, "The quantity of Kattas is 

 beyond description ; the whole plain seemed sometimes 

 to rise, and far off in the air they were seen like large 

 moving clouds. In the mountains of Edom they are in 

 such numbers that two or three are often killed at a time 

 by a stick thrown among them by the Arab boys ; and 

 such is their abundance in some parts of the year, that an 

 ass-load may be taken at one shutting of the clasp-net." 



Their flesh being black and hard, is never seen at the 

 tables of the Franks, bat it is nevertheless eaten by the 

 Turks. 



This grouse lays two or three eggs at a time, placed on 

 the ground, without any nest ; they are as large as those 

 of a pigeon, and of a greenish-black : the Arabs eat them 

 fried in butter. 



Hasselquist and Burckhardt are both of opinion that 

 this bird is the Quail (^Selav) of the ancient Israelites. 



