SAND-GROUSE. 43 



me, travelling from the soutli to the north. Here, on the 

 north-east of the Gobi, if they remain in the autumn, the 



natives calculate on a mild winter The flesh of 



this Sand-grouse is white and very good." 



From the above narrative it will be observed that this Sand- 

 grouse is liable to sudden movements in large flocks, but 

 of the cause which produced the invasion of 1863 no more 

 is known now than it was then, although various hypotheses 

 have been started. As regards the merits of its flesh, 

 which Herr Radde naturally found excellent in the deserts 

 of the Tarei-nor, Mr. Stevenson, experimenting upon exam- 

 ples which had first been skinned, found them, at their 

 best, nearly equal to a French Partridge ; the only resem- 

 blance to Grouse consisting in the two colours of the flesh, 

 the outer portion of which is dark and that nearest the bone 

 white : a feature which, it may be remarked, is common to 

 the other Sand-grouse. 



In the adult male the bill is horn- colour, the crown of 

 the head yellowish-grey, with dusky streaks ; hind neck 

 crossed by a band of orange, more intense at the sides, rest 

 bufi'-grey ; back and scapulars ochraceous, barred with dark 

 brown and black, as are the rump and upper tail-coverts, on 

 which the bars gradually change into streaks ; primaries 

 lavender, with black shafts and dark tips, the outer quills 

 attenuate, especially the first, which is the longest ; second- 

 aries buff on the inner and black on the outer webs ; wing- 

 coverts buff", bordered with chestnut, forming a conspicuous 

 band along the wing ; tail of sixteen feathers, mostly tipped 

 with white, grey centres, and ri6h buff inner webs barred 

 with dark brown : the central pair buff, barred with black 

 on the upper parts, then passing into grey, and then to dark 

 brown near the filamentous tips, often exceeding the others 

 by fully three inches ; chin buff ; throat orange ; lower parts 

 buff, with a narrowband of black-edged feathers on the chest, 

 and a broader dark brown band on the abdomen and flanks ; 

 under wing-coverts pale buff; under tail-coverts white, the 

 lower ones long and pointed, with dark centres ; legs and 

 feet, down to the toes, covered with buff-white feathers. 



