THE PIN-TAILED FOUR-TOED SAND-GROUSE. II 



Pteroclurus pyrenaicus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. 

 xxii. p. 9 (1893). 



This is merely a darker, and more richly coloured, western 

 form of P. alchatus. 



Adult Male. — Differs from the male of P. alchatus in having 

 the sub-terminal bars to the wing-coverts yellow, instead of white; 

 the chest in summer plumage rich chestnut, instead of rufous. 



Adult Female. — Differs from the female of P. alchatus in having 

 the sub-terminal bars to the wing-coverts yellow, instead of 

 whi'e ; the chest rufous or pale chestnut, very similar to that 

 of the male of P. alchatus in summer plumage. 



Range.— Southern Europe and North Africa are the home of 

 this form, which is found in suitable parts of Spain and Por- 

 tugal, as well as the south of France, while it has been ob- 

 tained at various other localities to the east, as, for instance, 

 Sicily, Malta, Greece, and Cyprus. South of the Mediter- 

 ranean it is common in Eastern Marocco and the extensive 

 sandy plains at the base of the Atlas Mountains. 



Habits. — Similar to those of its eastern ally. Canon Trist- 

 ram writes : "Though this bird does not approach so near the 

 verge of cultivation northwards as the Black-bellied Sand- 

 Grouse (P. arenarius\ it is far more generally abundant, and 

 continues to occur in vast flocks in winter in the M'zab and 

 Touarick country." 



Eggs. — Rich fawn-colour, covered and sometimes zoned with 

 large maroon-red surface blotches, and pale lilac shell-mark 

 ings. 



II. NAMAQUA PIN-TAILED SAND-GROUSE. PTEROCLURUS 



NAMAQUUS. 



Tetrao namaqua, Gmel. S. N. i. p. 754 (1788). 

 Ptcrocles namaqua, Bocage, Orn. Angola, p. 396 (1881). 

 Pteroclurus namaqua, Gurney, ed. Andersson's B. Darnara- 



land, p. 242 (1872), Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. 



p. 10(1893). 



