PTliROGLUKUS ALCHATUS CAUDACUTUS '286 



nests in quite small areas were then visible at a glance, the half- 

 roasted clutches of eggs showing up very v/hite against the charred 

 and blackened background. The nests are not as a rule placed 

 directly under the shelter of bushes, clods of earth, &c., nor are they 

 ever placed in really thickly-growing scrub or crops, though many 

 nests were placed in thin grass, or weedy, self-sown grain. Captain 

 Pitman describes the country round the camp referred to in his 

 notes as "one huge breeding-ground," and thinks that the enormous 

 south and south-east migrations which he noticed in March, 1916, 

 further north, represented movements of the birds to this breeding- 

 ground. 



Apparently the breeding-season commences in early May and 

 extends to early July, the great majority of eggs being laid the last 

 week in May and the first fortnight of June. At the same time a 

 few birds may lay in the last week in April, and I have one clutch 

 taken in Mesopotamia on the 10th July. 



The eggs of this fine sand-grouse differ from those of all others 

 in their richness of colouration and boldness of marking. The 

 normal ground-colour is a clear, rather bright buff, and they vary in 

 this from a pale-yellowish or creamy stone-colour to a quite rich buff. 

 A few eggs have the yellow or buff' tint wanting and are an almost 

 grey stone, whilst a few others are nearly salmon-pink or rich buff- 

 salmon in general tint. The primary markings consist of bold well- 

 defined blotches of dark Vandyke- or reddish-brown, interspersed with 

 smaller spots and specks of the same colour. The secondary or 

 subordinate markings are of the same character but of light-grey, 

 pale and dark neutral-tint, and a few of deep purple-grey. Both 

 primary and secondary markings are fairly equally distributed over 

 the whole surface of the egg, in very rare instances being denser in 

 the middle or at one end. In one egg only have I seen the markings 

 practically confined to one end, and in this they more or less blend 

 into a reddish cap with darker blotches showing through. 



The surface is fine and smooth with a well-developed gloss, and 

 the shell is fairly stout. 



In shape the eggs are elliptical, as in all sand-grouse, and 

 the measurements of 100 Mesopotamian eggs are as follows : 

 Average LtO X .'lOl mm. ; maxima 499 X 29'9 mm., and 



