THREE-BANDED SAND-GROUSE. 223 



In the male, the front is white, crossed by a broad 

 black band just before the eyes ; this band is con- 

 tinued as a black stripe over the eye, but it is inter- 

 rupted at its base by a large white spot on each side ; 

 the crown and nape is ochre with a pear-shaped 

 spot of black down each feather. From the nape to 

 the commencement of the interscapulars the ochre 

 colour has a faint greenish tinge, but without any 

 markings ; the interscapulars are then crossed by 

 bars of black, three on each feather, the broadest of 

 which is at the tip ; the rest of the back, rump, and 

 upper tail-covers, have bands of different breadths, 

 which gradually become stronger and more denned 

 as they approach the tail. The scapulars and ter- 

 tials are banded on a rufous ground, but the margins 

 all round are pure fulvous. The ground colour of 

 the whole of the wing-covers and the tertials, as well 

 as several of the lesser quills on their outer webs, is 

 uniform fulvous. The lesser covers have no bands, 

 but beyond these commences a series of transverse 

 black stripes, very distinctly marked, w-hich gradu- 

 ally increase in breadth, and traverse in an oblique 

 direction all these feathers ; most of these bars have 

 a narrow whitish edging, and some of these are 

 glossed with a bluish purple tinge ; the remainder of 

 the lesser quills are deep black but the greater quills 

 are brown. The tail is rounded, the feathers rather 

 broad, and crossed by black bars, similar to the tail- 

 covers, and of which there are about ten on each 

 feather; the last is the broadest, and is placed a 

 little way from the tip ; the under covers are like 



