2r)0 GAME-BIRDS OF INDIA 



It is seldom found in large flocks, more often in pairs than 

 anything else, and, according to Hume, seldom in packs of over ten, 

 which is the largest number he has personall}' seen together. 



Mr. Bridgeman writes that he always found the birds in small 

 parties of four or five, that is to say, in small family parties consisting 

 of the parent birds and their last brood. 



Occasionally, however, it does collect in much larger flocks, and 

 some of my correspondents mention packs of over one hundred. 

 Mr. E. Pythian-Adams says: "When marching through the Berars, 

 at one of our halting-places we put up about 200 from a scrub- 

 covered hill. At other times I have only seen a few together." 



So, also, Captain Nurse in the ' Journal of the Bombay Natural 

 History Society ' {loc. cit.) records : — 



" It is usually found only in small flocks, but this morning, when 

 shooting over some ravines covered with a little grass and a few 

 bushes, I came across a large number, not less than two or three 

 hundred. They were chiefly in flocks of from two to six, but there 

 were several packs of ten or a dozen, and one flock of sixty or eighty 

 birds. They were very wary and I seldom succeeded in getting 

 within thirty yards of them. However, I managed to shoot twenty- 

 one, which is the largest number of this species I have ever killed 

 in a day, chiefly by standing l)ehind a bush and iiaving them driven 

 towards me. I could certainly have got more if I had cared to stay 

 later, as they did not fly to any great distance and could generally 

 be marked down." 



Captain A. H. Mosse sends me a very interesting account of this 

 sand-grouse's habits, which shows well the many ways in which it 

 differs from the majority of its relatives. He writes : — 



" It is common enough in all the less cultivated and more jungly 

 parts of Guzerat, preferring more or less hilly country where the 

 jungle is not too dense, and rarely, if ever, resorting to the open 

 plains beloved of the Common Sand-Grouse. During the monsoon 

 months, however, it does sometimes visit the more civilized parts, 

 but only where there are trees ; for instance, I have seen it at Baroda 

 in the month of June. 



" It does not ordinarily collect in large numbers like the Common 

 Sand-Grouse, and as far as I can recollect, I have never seen more 

 than seven or eight together, except when the flocks meet at a 

 common drinking place. It difl'ers, too, from the Common species, 

 and from the Imperial Sand-Grouse, in its drinking habits. These 

 two, as is well-known drink in the morning after the sun has 



