PTEROCLES INDICUS 259 



These figures in millimetres are, roughly 33 to 40, 23'.5 to 27, and 

 36 by 25 mm. 



The series in my own collection all agree with Hume's eggs 

 except one pair which have the ground-colour a pale dull sea-green, 

 with a few faded grey and brown blotches and spots sparsely but 

 evenly distributed over the whole surface. These eggs were taken 

 by a good sportsman who knew both the Painted and the Common 

 Sand-Grouse well and I have no reason to doubt their identification, 

 though I cannot guarantee it. Jerdon, notoriously, cared little for 

 eggs and was constantly incorrect in this particular, so little reliance 

 can be placed on the identification of his eggs referred to by Hume 

 above. Nor do my eggs agree with Jerdon's, which seem to have 

 been coloured much like those of exustus, whereas the eggs in ray 

 collection are very pale and weakly-coloured, far more so than any 

 I have seen of that bird. 



I have also a remarkable pair of eggs taken by Mr. A^idal at 

 Nassic ; these have the usual cream or salmon ground, but are 

 profusely blotched all over with bright red-brown and underlying 

 marks of grey and neutral tint. I have seen no other eggs nearly 

 so boldly marked as these are, and such colouring must be very 

 exceptional. 



In size all my eggs come within the limits given by Hume and 

 the average of eighty eggs, including his, is 358 X 24'99 mm. 



The season during which the Painted Sand-Grouse should be 

 protected might be taken as from the 1st April to 1st October, by 

 which latter date the great majority of young would be well able to 

 take care of themselves. 



General Habits. — The habits of the Painted Sand-Grouse are 

 very different from those of the Common Sand-Grouse, our one other 

 Indian resident which can compare with it in numbers. It is 

 essential for this bird that it should have a certain amount of cover, 

 and where this is absent the bird will not be met with. Its favourite 

 resorts are low rocky hills and the country immediately surrounding 

 them, but the soil must be comparatively dry and the cover must be 

 neither too dense nor too sparse. Tree- and evergreen-jungle it 

 seldom enters and it prefers low scrub-jungle, especially such as is 

 rather sparse and scattered and which is broken up by numerous 

 stony ravines and dry, or nearly dry, water-courses, 



