Sand-Grouse, 23 



Mr. Hume writes of this species : 

 " Of all the Sand-Grouse that inhabit or 

 visit India .... none habitually asso- 

 ciate in such enormous flocks as the Pin- 

 tail does during the cold season. Near 

 Mardan I have seen flocks of at least 

 ten thousand, and in Northern Sind I 

 know that they similarly occur at times 

 in countless numbers." 



Mr. Dresser, speaking of the nearly 

 allied species which occurs in Europe, 

 says : " In its habits the Pin-tailed Sand- 

 Grouse does not appreciably differ from 

 the Black-bellied Sand-Grouse. ... It 

 is shy and very wild, lives in large flocks 

 except during the breeding season, and 

 feeds on seeds, insects and the leaves of 

 various wild plants. . . . When in flocks 

 they frequently traverse great distances on 

 the wing in search of water ; and during 

 their flight they utter their loud note, 

 Kadi, kaat ka" 



As before remarked, some of these 

 birds remain in Sind perhaps as per- 

 manent residents, or if not, for a sufficient 

 time to permit of nesting operations to 

 be completed. In the Hume Collection 

 there is a single egg of this species, on 

 which it is recorded that it was found at 

 Jeempoer (? Jhimpir) in Sind on the xoth 



