THE SAND GROUSE, 375 
to by the disciples of the gun as anxiously as the Derby-day by 
racing men. 
PERDICIDES. 
The distinctive features of the birds composing this family are— 
a short beak, a small head, a 1ound and massive body, bare tarsi, 
with spurs more or less developed, and a middling-sized back toe. 
The wings are sharp, pointed, or blunt, according to the species. 
This family comprehends the Sand Grouse, Quail, Partridge, Colin, 
Francolin, and Zurnzx. 
Fig. 150.—Ptarmigan ‘Summer and Winter Dress). 
g. 15 
The Sand Grouse (/erocles) are essentially birds of passage, and 
in consequence are provided with long and sharply-pointed wings. 
They resemble the Plover in their power of lofty, rapid, and sustained 
flight, and inhabit the arid plains of Southern Europe, Asia, and 
Africa. 
The Pin-tail Sand Grouse (Pterocles setarius, Fig. 151), a well- 
known species, annually makes its appearance in Spain and the South 
of France ; it is common on the steppes of Southern Russia, Tartary, 
and Northern Africa. Occasionally it breeds in the Pyrenees. 
The Heteroclites are characterised by the total absence of the 
back toe. They are closely allied to the Sand Grouse, and, like them, 
have pointed wings, and are fond of travelling ; but their flight is not 
