306 ON SAFARI 



feathers round the occiput. Iricles crimson. Localities, 

 Tana, Sabaki, etc. 



Sand-Grouse 



1. Bridled Sand-Grouse — Pt erodes decmxitiis. Small. Black below. 



2. Chestnut-throated Sand-Grouse — P. gutturalis. The largest 



of the three. Lower parts deep chestnut. 



3. Pintailed Sand-Grouse — Pteroclurus exushis. Has long pin- 



tail. Abundant. Lower parts nearly white. 



All three kinds can be seen daily by the rivers 

 comincr down to drink half-an-hour after dawn. With 

 their swift flight they afford tl)e smartest of shooting both 

 then and again towards dusk. 



[Note. — In the Transvaal I found eggs of the Double- 

 banded Sand-Grouse (P. hicindus) on July 1 — the seasonal 

 equivalent of our New Year's Day — which shows how " mixed " 

 is the African breeding-season. The incident was impressed on 

 memory because, while carrying the eggs in my shirt-front (we 

 wear no coats thereaway), I walked right into a big waterbuck 

 bull fast asleep under a bush, and was unable to handle the 

 rifle by reason of those blessed oological treasures ! We found 

 other nests, each with three egg^, on 20th and 26th of July; but 

 meanwhile, on the 19th, had caught a newly-fledged young bird 

 already able to fly. Its irides were brown.] 



Pigeons 



Olive, or Spotted Wood-Pigeon — Columha arquatrix. A dark- 

 coloured Wood-Pigeon, size of a cushat, partially spotted ; 

 bill and legs bright yellow. A bird of dense forest, such 

 as the Mau, and Kikuyu Forest, near Nairobi. 

 Triangular-spotted Pigeon — C. gidnea. A Wood-pigeon, maroon- 

 coloured on neck, shoulders, and breast: rump light grey. 

 A bird of open woods, such as those of Naivasha, etc. Settles 

 on ground like a cushat. 

 Green Pigeons — Three species as under, all frequenting thin 

 open forest or bush-country — 



Vinngo nudirostris. Common. 

 „ loakefiddi. 

 delalandei. 



