244 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



Since writing what precedes I have revisited the districts above 

 spoken of, and had the pleasure of again meeting with P. coronatus. 

 I have also observed the species at one or two places somewhat 

 further north, though not north of the Atlas, and I doubt it ever 

 straying beyond that range. 



Canon Tristram and Loche both include this species among the 

 birds of the Algerian Sahara, and Dr. Koenig appears to have met 

 with it between Gardaia and Oued N'^a, though he failed to secure 

 a specimen of it. In Tripoli Mr. Dodson found the species in two 

 different localities and obtained several examples. 



From Marocco I have no specimens or notes of its occurrence. 



P. coronatus frequents the same description of country as its 

 congener.?, and like them is shy and wild, but less so perhaps than P. 

 arenarius and P. alchata. Its flight is swift and powerful, and when 

 going to and from its drinking resorts the bird will traverse great 

 distances. On the ground its walk resembles that of a Pigeon. Its 

 note is very different from that of the two above species, and may 

 be fairly well rendered by the syllable " ka " or " kla," repeated 

 several times. Its Arabic name of " Kleikla " or " Klekla " is no 

 doubt derived from its cry. When coming to drink the birds are very 

 noisy, and their approach is heralded by their cry long before they are 

 near the spot for which they are bound. The Arabs occasionally 

 capture this Sand-Grouse alive, and I have had living examples offered 

 to me. 



The food of this species, like that of other Sand-Grouse, consists 

 chiefly, if not entirely, of the seeds and tender parts of desert plants. 

 According to some authors, small insects are also eaten by Sand- 

 Grouse, but in the stomachs of those which I have examined I never 

 found anything but seeds and vegetable matter. 



I have never been fortunate enough to discover its eggs, but 

 apparently the species is a late breeder and does not usually lay until 

 the middle of May. The number of eggs in a clutch is said to be 

 three, and their colour, according to Canon Tristram, is ashy-white 

 with a few almost obliterated pale brown markings, while their 

 measurements are given as 1'5 by 1'06 inch. 



Loche states that he has taken the eggs of this species, and that 

 they are of a pale greyish-colour, covered with indistinct violet-grey 

 and dull rufous markings, and measure about 44 X 32 mm., but these 

 measurements seem more applicable to eggs of the larger species of 

 Sand-Grouse. 



