Sand-Grouse. 43 



very different, he adds, to the P. arenarius^ 

 which he found one of the most difficult 

 of birds to approach. 



In the Hume Collection there is a 

 single egg of this species which was taken 

 at Chaman in South Afghanistan by the 

 late Lieut. H. E. Barnes on the 27th 

 May, t88o. It is perfectly elliptical and 

 very glossy. The ground-colour is a 

 pale ashy, and it is covered, pretty equally 

 all over, with pale purple shell-marks 

 and brown surface-spots and marks. It 

 measures i'6 by i'o5. 



The male bird has a portion of the 

 throat and the sides of the forehead 

 black ; the middle of the forehead white ; 

 the crown rather bright fulvous brown or 

 cinnamon-colour completely surrounded 

 by a broad coronet of grey ; the lower 

 portion of the throat, the sides of the 

 head and a collar round the neck saffron- 

 yellow. The upper plumage and the 

 visible portions of the closed wings are 

 various shades of fulvous brown mixed 

 with brown and fulvous, this last forming 

 broad oval tips to the feathers. The 

 quills of the wing are dark brown, all 

 but the first three or four tipped with 

 fulvous. The middle tail-feathers are 

 fulvous, the others fulvous with white 



