122 BRITAIN^S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 



lutely unique, and the great interest attaching to the 

 species warrants this brief summary. But its right to be 

 considered a native bird is merely nominal. In both 

 habits and appearance it is obviously an inhabitant of the 

 desert. The three elliptically shaped eggs, stone-buff with 

 purple-brown blotches, are laid in a hollow scratched in 

 the sand. A nearly allied bird is foimd on the Tibetan 

 uplands, and a second genus comprises several species. 

 Together the Sand-Grouse form a small but separate 

 family and order of their own. 



