PTEROCLIDAE 323 



or clucking sound ; though that of ^iyrrhajyUs appears to be 

 hoarser, and has been syllabled as " truck-turuck " and " caga- 

 caga " in S. paradoxus and S. tihetanus respectively. The alarm- 

 note is of a croaking nature. The food consists of seeds, tender 

 shoots, bulbous grass-roots, and insects, or even of berries, peas, and 

 beans; while the birds flock to drink at certain favourite spots, and 

 are variously stated to take continuous or interrupted draughts. 

 The nest is a mere hollow in the soil, frequently lined with a 

 little grass ; the three oval, but peculiarly cylindrical, eggs vary 

 from whitish to buff, or greenish in Syrrha'ptes, and are marked 

 with brown, reddish, and violet. Both sexes assist in incuba- 

 tion, which lasts from twenty-five to twenty-eight days. Opinions 

 vary as to the edible quality of the flesh. 



Fig. 65. Pallas's Sand-Grouse. Syr rhaptes paradoxus. x 1%. 



Fterocles arenarius, ranging from the Canary Islands, North 

 Africa, and Madagascar to South Europe and Central Asia, has 

 dark grey upper parts, with orange-yellow markings, except on 

 the wliite - tipped primaries and tail ; the chestnut throat 

 surmounts a black patch, which is succeeded by a breast of the 

 same dove-colour as the head, crossed by a black band ; the belly 

 being black also. The bill is horn-coloured, the feet are greyish. 

 The female is buff, barred above and spotted below with black ; 

 her throat is yellowish-white, and the black areas on her lower 

 surface are as in the male. P. decoratus of East Africa, F. hicinctus 

 and P. variegatus of South Africa, P. coronatus and P. lichtensteini, 

 extending from the Sahara and Kordofan respectively to North- 

 VYest India, P. giUturalis of East Africa, P. personatns of Mada- 

 gascar, P. fasciatus of India the only species peculiar to Asia 

 and P. quadricinctus, found from Senegambia to Abyssinia, are 

 fairly similar to the above, though chiefly sandy in some cases. 



Pteroclurus alchata, absurdly termed " Perdrix d'Angleterre '' 



