PTEROCLID^. 297 



Pterocles alchata, Lin. 



801. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 500 ; Murray's Verte- 

 brate Zoology of Sind, p. 210 ; Game Birds of India, Vol. I, 

 p. 77. 



THE LARGE PIN-TAILED SAND GROUSE. 



Length, 13'5 to 15'5 ; expanse, 24 to 26 ; wings, 7'5 to 8'5 ; 

 tail, # 5 to 7, ? 375 to 6 ; tarsus, 1 ; weight, 8J to 12 ounces. 



Bill dusky-green to slate color ; irides brown ; feet dirty or 

 dusky-green. 



Forehead and supercilia rusty-fulvous, with a black stripe 

 behind the eye ; top of the head and nape fulvous with black 

 bands ; the general hue above, including the scapulars and shoul- 

 ders of the wings, is fulvous or greyish-olive, shaded with fuscous ; 

 the scapulars with a few black spots ; rump and upper tail- 

 coverts bright pale fulvous with narrow black bars ; lesser and 

 median wing-coverts maroon, white tipped; secondary-coverts 

 fulvous with black lunules ; greater-coverts and primaries slaty- 

 blue on their outer webs, brown internally ; tail banded yellow 

 and black ; the median pair blackish on their attenuated portion ; 

 the outer feathers greyish white, tipped and edged ; beneath, 

 the chin and throat are black, edged with rusty ; lores and 

 face rufous-yellow, with a blackish space round the eyes ; breast 

 pale fulvous, with a double black band, each of them narrow ; 

 abdomen, vent, and lower tail-coverts white, the latter slightly 

 black barred ; tarsal plumes whitish. 



The female differs in having the upper plumage barred with 

 black and fulvous, with some dusky-ashy spots on the back and 

 scapulars ; the lesser and median wing-coverts ashy, with oblique 

 rufous and black lunules ; the throat white ; a broad blackish 

 demi-collar on the neck, followed by an ashy band tinged with 

 rufous ; the median tail-feathers are nearly as long as in the 

 male bird. 



It is only in the trans-indus portion of Sind that the Pin- 

 tailed Grouse occurs in any numbers, although stragglers are 

 occasionally procured much further south. 

 It is only a cold weather visitant. 



Pterocles senegalus, Lin. 



801 bis. Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 207 ; Butler, 

 Guzerat ; Stray Feathers, Vol. IV, p. 4 ; Game Birds of India, 

 Vol. I, p. 53. " 



THE SPOTTED SAND GROUSE. 



Length, 12'4 to 147 ; expanse, 22 to 24 ; wing, 7'3 to 8 ; tail, 

 <?, 5-3 to 6, ? , 4 to 4-6 ; tarsus, 1 ; bill at front, 0'4 to 0'47 ; 

 weight, 8 to 12 oz. 



Bill pale plumbeous or bluish-white ; irides brown ; feet pale 

 plumbeous or bluish- white. 



The male has the whole chin and throat with a patch extending 



