THE SAND GROUSE 2157 



When drinking, these birds thrust their bill into the water, and retain it there till 

 their thirst is quenched, after the manner of pigeons. The young are covered with 

 a close and beautifully-patterned down, and are able to run as soon as hatched. 

 The only nest is a hole scratched in the sand; and the eggs, generally three in num- 

 ber and oval in shape, are double spotted with brown and pale violet on a ground 

 color which is generally cream or buff, but more rarely pale red, the pale violet 

 spots being more deeply imbedded in the shell than the others. The eggs are like 

 those of the rails, and unlike those of the game birds, which are always single 

 spotted. 



In this genus the first toe is absent, while the short front toes are 



densely covered with feathers, and the central pair of tail feathers are 

 Sand Grouse 



produced into long thread-like points. In Pallas' s sand grouse (Syr- 

 rhaptes paradoxus) , the first quill of each wing is greatly lengthened and attenuated 

 at the extremity, but in the other species (S. tibetanus), which is a native of Tibet, 

 these feathers are much less developed. Pallas' s sand grouse has the general color 

 of the upper parts pale buff barred with black, the breast being pale gray shading 

 into dirty white, and the under parts black. The male is distinguished by having 

 the throat and a patch of feathers on each side of the neck rust colored, the rest of 

 the head and neck uniform grayish, and a band of white feathers barred with black 

 across the chest. In the female, on the other hand, the patches of feathers on the 

 neck and throat are pale yellow, and the throat is bounded below by a narrow black 

 band; the top of the head, back, and sides of the breast being spotted with black 

 and the band across the chest absent. The interest attaching to this bird lies in 

 the incursions which it has from time to time made into Europe, more often in 

 comparatively-small numbers, but in the years 1863 and 1888 in enormous flocks, 

 many of which arrived on the eastern coasts of Great Britain, and spread inland to 

 nearly every county, some individuals even reaching the Scilly islands and Ireland, 

 and others the Shetlands and Faroes. The reason of these migrations is without 

 any satisfactory explanation, especially as the flocks arrive in spring. It seems 

 hardly probable that they could have been driven back by stress of weather while 

 attempting to reach their breeding haunts, since they are able to endure severe cold, 

 and have arrived in South Siberia by the end of March. 



This species (Pterodes arenarius} represents a genus distinguished 

 by the naked feet, the presence of the first toe, and by the central pair 

 of tail feathers not being elongated. Common during the cold season 

 in the northwestern parts of India, this bird does not breed within the limits of the 

 empire. It prefers the great sandy plains where water is easily accessible, but in 

 places, where the rivers are too distant for it to resort to, it frequents such few 

 tanks as are to be found. In the early morning plowed land is a very favorite 

 haunt, and there large numbers may be seen squatting close together and basking 

 in the morning rays of the sun. Like the rest of their kind, these birds are in the 

 habit of taking a midday siesta when the sun is hot, but when the weather is cold 

 and cloudy they are moving about all day. They scratch about among the loose 

 loam like so many hens till they have made a comfortable depression that fits them, 

 and there they repose, sunning first one side and then the other, and apparently 



