PTKKOCLESSYRKIIA /'/7> 657 



in number, are pale butV tinned with salmon pink, with under- 

 lying purplish grey and overlying brown surface spot*, and 

 measure about 1 '4-"> In 1 ,">. 



SYRRHAPTES, Illig,, 1811. 



SYRRHAPTES PARADOXUS 



. Fxeise l\uss. Reiehs. ii. App. p. 71:2, T;il>. 



F. (ITT.r : (nuild, r,. of Asia, vi. pl. 60 ; id. B. of Gt Brit. iv. pi. 11 ; 

 Newton. P.Z.S. 1861, p. :W7, pi. xxxix. tig. 1 (egg),; Dresser, vii. p. 75, 

 pl. 4liS : David and Oust. Ois. rhine, p. 389; Newton, Ibis, 1890, 

 p. '207, pl. vii. (pull.) ; Ogilvie Grant, Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxii. p. 2 ; 

 Tae . F. O. Sib. ( >. p. 740 ; Saunders, p. 488 ; Lilford, iv. p. 97, pl. 43. 



HsthuJin, German; Sirrattc, Ital. ; Steppehone, Dan.; 

 m. Swed. ; Hieta-kana, Finn.; Stepnaya-Kuritza, Russ. ; 



S/nt-chcc, Chinese. 



ad. (E. Siberia). Crown and sides of head dull gold colour ; nape 

 greyish ImtV: across tlu> hind neck a patch of golden orange extending 

 upwards on each side ; back, scapulars and rump warm sandy ochreous, 

 tho two former boldly, the last narrowly barred with black ; primaries 

 bluish jjrey, the tirst long and attenuated, the inner ones oclireous tipped ; 

 secondaries ochreous on the inner and blftckifiH on the outer webs ; wiiii^- 

 coverts sandy ochreous, the larger tipped with foxy red ; outer edge of 

 wing spotted with black; tail-covrerts and elongated middle tail-feathers 

 ochreous washed with blue-grey, the latter tipped with black ; rest of tail- 

 feathers slate-grey tipped with white ; under parts delicate dove-buff, 

 tinged with grey fading to dull white on the lower abdomen, legs and feet ; 

 upper In-east crossed by an irregular black bar and the middle of the 

 abdomen by a broad black band ; bill pale horn ; iris dark brown. 

 Oulmen 0\>. wing 9'0, the first quill I'l longer than the second, tail 7'6, 

 the middle feathers 3'6 longer than the rest, tarsus 1*1 inch. The female is 

 duller and greyer, has the crown and nape striped with black, lacks the 

 yellow and orange on the head and neck and the pectoral band, and has the 

 first quill and middle tail- feathers shorter. 



Hal). The steppes of Southern Russia, and Asia east to North 

 China, north to Lake Baikal ; large flocks have visited Europe 

 at uncertain intervals, and it has been obtained in almost every 

 country, while it has bred in Great Britain and Denmark. 



In habits it resembles the other Sand-Grouse, and like them 

 tlies \vry swiftly. It feeds on seeds, and its call-note, which is 

 uttered when the bird is on the wing, is a loud frtM&Htontcfe, 

 truok-turuck. Its nest is a mere depression in the soil., sometimes 

 lined with a few grass-bents, and the eggs, 3 in number, are 



