38 Manual of the Ga/ne Birds of India. 



bustle about in the sand or loose loam 

 like old hens until they have worked out 

 a depression that fits them, and then in 

 this they sit a little on one side, first with 

 one wing a little under them and the 

 uppermost one a little opened, and then, 

 after a time, they shift over to the other 

 side, so as to give the other wing its turn 

 of grilling. ... It is not uncommon, 

 particularly in the early part of the cold 

 season, to meet with party after party con- 

 sisting of birds of one sex only ; but this 

 separation of the sexes is by no means in- 

 variable even in November and December, 

 and is much less frequently seen as the 

 season advances. . . . Every one in India 

 knows the peculiar clucking note of this 

 and the Common Sand-Grouse, but I 

 really do not know how to put it on 

 paper." 



This Sand-Grouse has not yet been 

 known to nest in India, but in the Hume 

 Collection there is an egg which was 

 found by the late Lieut. H. E. Barnes at 

 Chaman, in Southern Afghanistan ; it is 

 therefore not improbable that the eggs 

 may hereafter be found within our limits. 



The British Museum possesses a fine 

 series of the eggs of this bird from Asia 

 Minor, Algeria, and Spain. They are as 



