Sand Grouse 405 



//. PTEROCLO-COLUMBM 



The second of the two superior groups into which the Plover-like birds are 

 divided embraces the Sand Grouse and the multitudinous Pigeons, and comprises 

 what Dr. Gadow has called the Charadriiformes in their widest sense. They 

 are distinguished from the group of Laro-Limicolce by the naked or sometimes 

 entirely absent oil-gland, a rudimentary vomer, impervious nostrils, and a much 

 larger crop. The first to be considered are 



THE SAND GROUSE 



The Sand Grouse, or Pigeon-Grouse as Huxley very appropriately called them, 

 are a small but very peculiar and interesting group of birds that seem to combine 

 in a measure the characters of several orders. They are small Grouse-like or 

 Pigeon-like birds, approximating ten or twelve inches in length, with a rather 

 stocky body, long, pointed wings, and very short legs and toes. The bill, although 

 not so strongly developed, resembles that of the Fowl-like birds (Galliformes), and 

 the digestive organs are galline, while the young present many characters that 

 suggest the same type. On the other hand, they agree with the Pigeons in the 

 vocal organs as well as in certain details of the skull, shoulder girdle, and ster- 

 num, but differ in the form of the legs and feet and somewhat in the feather 

 pattern, and in possessing an aftershaft to the contour feathers. In certain 

 features they even suggest the Plovers, while their eggs are not greatly unlike 

 those of Rails; but they are said to drink like Pigeons, that is, "thrusting the bill 

 up to the nostrils into the water, and retaining it there until the thirst is satisfied," 

 and altogether they seem to be rather closer to the Pigeons, but forming, never- 

 theless, a very distinct group. They are comprised in a single family (Ptero- 

 clida}, which embraces three genera and seventeen species, all confined to the 

 Old World, with a few forms extending by migration into southern Europe. 



To descend now to particulars, the Sand Grouse are as a rule birds of a yellow- 

 ish brown or buff color, and generally possess four toes, although the hind toe is 

 always small and in one genus is entirely absent; all the toes are on the same 

 level, the front ones being short and rather broad. There are eleven primary 

 quills in the wings and the tail is composed of from fourteen to sixteen feathers, 

 the central ones being in some greatly elongated, while in others the outer pri- 

 mary is produced into a thin filament. In all the species the tarsus is covered 

 with short, downy feathers and some have the toes feathered in addition. 



The Sand Grouse frequent for the most part the great bare plains and deserts, 

 such as those so well known in many parts of Africa and Asia, a few only coming 

 to the border of the thin, bushy jungle, all, however, avoiding the dense forests 

 and keeping mostly to the open places, where their quiet plumage well harmo- 



