PTEROCLES BICINCTUS. 



DOUBLE-BANDED SANDGBOUSE. 



(Plate 41.) 



Pterocles hicinctus, Temminck, Pig. et Gall., iii, pp. 247, 713 (1815) ; 

 Sharpe's ed. Layard Birds of S. Afr., pp. 575, 854 (1875-84); 

 Nicolls & Eglington, Sportsman in S. Afr., p. iii. (1892) ; Ogilvie- 

 Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxii, p. 30 (1893) ; Reichenow, 

 Vogel Afrikas, i, p. 309 (1900-01); Sclater, Ann. S. Afr. Mus., 

 Ill, p. 353 (1905) ; Sclater & Stark, Birds of S. Afr., iv, p. 189 

 (1906). 



Description. The birds figured are an adult male and female. Mr. 

 Ogilvie-Grant says that examples from Demaraland and Griqua- 

 land West are so much paler and lighter in colour, that they might 

 very well be distinguished under a subspecific name. Length 

 about 9 in. 



Distribution. The chief haunt of the Double-banded Sandgrouse 

 is Bechuanaland. It does not appear to be found south of the 

 Orange River except in the little Namaqualand, where it is com- 

 mon. It is found as far north as the southern part of Angola and 

 the Zambesi Valley. I shot a few of what I am nearly sure were 

 of this species on the Athi Plains in British East Africa. 



I HAVE no personal experience of this species in South Africa, 

 but it appears much to resemble the other Sandgrouse in its 

 habits, being generally found in flocks which spHt up during 

 the breeding-season. Its flight is swift, and its note a curious 

 shrill whistle. 



The following account of its habits in the Zambesi Valley 

 was written by the late Capt. Boyd Alexander : — 



" These birds frequent open spots in the woods, where 

 the soil is loose and stony and the slopes of the hilly banks 

 are coated with dry grass. They are fond of basking in the 



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