28'i! GAME-BIllDS OF INDIA 



surface barred buff and blackish, duller on the dorsal parts, brighter 

 on rump and tail ; wings with the white on the coverts replaced by 

 grey, the slate-grey bands replaced by black, and the whole tone 

 duller and greyer. The sides of the head, neck and breast are dull 

 earthy-buff with bars of black, these bars are rather denser on the 

 base of the throat and above the white of the abdomen, giving slight 

 indications of the bands on these parts ; the under tail-coverts are 

 white with a few brown bars and the rest of the under parts white as 

 in the adult, but with obselete brown bars here and there, especially 

 in the centre of the abdomen. 



First plumage of both male and female. — Whole upper parts, head, 

 neck and breast dull-buff, barred with blackish and brownish-black 

 above and dull-brown below. Chin and throat white as in the older 

 female. The bars on the head and lower parts are narrower and 

 more numerous than in the older bird and are more crescentic in 

 shape. The quills are paler and the inner primaries freckled with 

 rufous towards the tip. The wing of a bird of this description 

 measures 7'0'2 inches. 



The nestling has not yet been described, but in the P.Z.S., 1866, 

 there is a plate (ix.) which shows the general colour to be reddish- 

 brown above, profusely spotted all over with black and with scattered 

 apical spots of white. Lines on crown and sides of head from bill, 

 down the centre of back and horse-shoe shaped on mantle are white 

 with black edges and there are two small similar horse-shoes on 

 wings. 



Mr. Meade-Waldo was the first to discover that the male of this 

 Sand-Grouse assumes a post-nuptial plumage after the young are 

 hatched, much in the same manner as many ducks do. He says: 

 " Eoughly, there is the first nestling-plumage which is assumed from 

 the down. This is moulted in the autumn into the winter plumage. 

 In the very early spring this again is changed into the breeding- 

 plumage, and the cock in late summer puts on an eclipse dress 

 resembling the hen, except that the slate-blue bars on the back 

 are missing. As far as I can ascertain these changes are brought 

 about by a complete renewal of feather and all are complete, but 

 the eclipse plumage is only perfect in adult and vigorous birds, 

 otherwise the feathers that are first shed partake of the character 



